


Breaking Through

by Purple2015



Category: Rookie Blue
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-10 06:53:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 48
Words: 358,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5575621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple2015/pseuds/Purple2015
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been nearly two years since Holly left for San Francisco, Gail is now a detective and her life has regained some normalcy even if her parents no longer speak to her. A chance meeting at a conference throws everything into chaos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters etc.

…

'I'm sure it's perfect. You've gone over it enough times', Frankie sighed, 'Anyway most people will go to the session on weapons so you'll just be speaking to a couple of forensic nerds'.

Gail looked up from her iPad with a doleful expression. She didn't want to tell Frankie about her fear of public speaking. While both her parents no longer spoke to her, their exPecktations were so ingrained that Gail couldn't completely suppress her doubts about her presentation or anxiety that once on stage her nerves would get the better of her.

'Anyway, Rodney's co-presenting so just let him do the nerd speak and you'll be right', Frankie said, undeterred by Gail's expression. 'You know Peck, conferences are meant to be fun. Time away from work, drinking, hooks up with people you don't ever have to see again. Not this boring serious shit'. Frankie waved her hand dismissively.

As Gail rolled her eyes, Frankie stood. 'I'm going to get more coffee', she said, 'Want some?'

Gail shook her head. She was jittery enough without caffeine. God knew why she'd agreed to give this presentation. Newly promoted to detective, she and Rodney, who was now a fully-fledged forensic pathologist, had been given a cold case to dig over. The victim was the niece of the freshly appointed police minister and no one held out much hope that the murder would be solved, which was why the case was shunted to the two newbies. However, a combination of painstaking police work and advances in forensics had led them to the killer. The case had made a splash in the media and impressed Gail's superiors, which was why she and Rodney were asked to present a session at the Crime Scene Investigation Conference in Chicago.

Gail sighed loudly. She had no idea how she had allowed herself to be convinced this was a good idea. Really she hadn't been given a choice, and with her brother in prison for corruption and her father suspended for trying to get her to lie on the stand for Steve, Gail felt like she needed to toe the line, which was something that didn't really come easily to her. Doing her best to ignore the other conference attendees crowding the hotel coffee shop to get breakfast before the morning sessions started, she returned her attention to her notes.

'You are definitely missing out Peck. I think every second woman at this conference is gay'. Gail looked up to see Frankie returning to their table, coffee in hand. As she exaggeratedly rolled her eyes, she heard Frankie say, 'So you've decided to join me'.

'Uhh, actually I was hoping to speak to Gail', said a voice Gail had not heard for nearly two years but would recognise anywhere.

'Holly', she croaked.


	2. Two

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of their characters etc…

...

'Holly', croaked Gail 'hey'.

'Hi', replied Holly a little awkwardly.

'Hey', Gail responded, equally awkward.

'You said that already'. Holly gave one of her lop-sided smiles.

'You know, I thought it sounded familiar', Gail said, the slight huff in her voice belied by the smile breaking out across her face.

Frankie watched in wonderment. So this was Holly. It was no surprise Peck was hung up on her. She was gorgeous. But this dorky exchange; Frankie had thought Peck was cooler than this.

'What are you doing here?' asked Gail.

'Same as you, I'm giving a presentation'.

'But I didn't see you on the conference program'.

'It was last minute. My boss had a family emergency, so I'm filling in for him', explained Holly.

Holly hadn't a changed at all since Gail had last seen her. Her hair was slightly shorter and she was more tan but that was California for you. Gail noticed a tiredness around her eyes that she put down to overwork. Holly always put in long hours and squeezing in an unexpected conference would take its toll. Suddenly conscious that Frankie was watching the two of them keenly, Gail hastily made introductions.

'Holly, this is Detective Frankie Anderson, and Frankie, Dr Holly Stewart'.

'We bumped into each other at the breakfast bar', Holly said with an amused smirk as she regarded Frankie.

Frankie decided she needed to change the subject fast. She didn't want Gail to know she'd hit on Holly and unsuccessfully if she were really honest. 'So Holly, are you coming to Gail's presentation?' she asked somewhat wickedly, knowing (even if Gail hadn't admitted it) that she loathed public speaking.

She watched as Gail face became ashen. Gail groaned inwardly. It was bad enough having to speak in front of strangers (she'd made Frankie promise to go to the weapon's talk) but if Holly was there as well she wasn't sure she could hold it together. The tension that had been with her all morning started to morph into a full-blown headache. She felt like someone had put a bag of wet cement in her head and she couldn't focus on Holly and Frankie's conversation. Getting up abruptly, she muttered that she needed to get ready for the talk, before hurrying to the coffee shop exit.

'She hates public speaking', Frankie explained as she watched Gail go.

Holly was struck by the familiarity in the detective's tone. This wasn't something she knew about Gail, although she should have guessed given Gail dragged her into the coat closet at Frank and Noelle's wedding to hide from the guests. Was Frankie just a colleague, a friend or more?

Frankie turned back to Holly with narrowed eyes. 'Don't break her heart', she said before following Gail.

...

Frankie was wrong. The conference room was packed to capacity. After all the case had created something of a sensation, although Gail wondered if people were there out of curiosity to see the Peck who ratted out her brother and father. Some of her colleagues admired her for it, but she knew others balked at working with her, not trusting she'd have their backs or, worse still, believing she was covering up her own involvement in the corruption scandal. There was no escaping the Peck legacy, good or bad. At least now people couldn't say she was bumped to detective because of the Peck name.

Looking out over the faces Gail felt a familiar wave of nausea. She needed something to calm her. Frankie had advised her to imagine the audience naked, or at least the women, as if that would help. She caught sight of Holly seated towards the back. Now she didn't need to imagine her naked - she felt like she'd memorised every inch of Holly's body. Not helping Gail, she chided herself but then had a thought. She always felt calm talking to Holly. What if she imagined Holly was the only person in the room and she was speaking just to her.

Gail walked to the podium as the facilitator made the introductions. She and Rodney had agreed she would speak first. She knew she'd be too nervous to sit through his part of the presentation before delivering her own. Coughing slightly, she leant towards the microphone.

'Before I begin I should warn you that public speaking usually makes me puke so forgive me if I need to bolt suddenly and Rodney has to take over'. Her words were met with a ripple of laughter. Okay, that wasn't too bad, she thought. Somehow admitting her anxiety made it easier. She still focused on Holly as she began to detail the case.

It had been hard at first to convince their superiors to spend money on reconstructing the scene and to run new tests on old evidence samples but it had paid off. When they first started working together, Gail had been slightly embarrassed that she had once tried to cajole Rodney, then very much a junior in the morgue, into getting the print off a thumb so she could avoid Holly. She was relieved that Rodney didn't bring it up and the two settled into what Gail considered a comfortable working relationship, although if you asked Rodney he was sometimes still a little unsettled by Gail's quirks. Rodney had proved to be very good at his job, which Gail suspected had a lot to do with Holly's mentoring. For his part, Rodney appreciated Gail's sharp intellect, which she had tended to downplay before the fall of the Pecks.

Before Gail knew it, the presentation was over and she had even coped with the q and a session that followed. At least most of the questions were reasonably intelligent - there was only one middle-age cop who decided to use the open mic to draw parallels with what seemed to Gail like every obscure case he'd ever worked. As people began to file out, she noticed Frankie walking towards her.

'Awesome Peck. Knew you could do it', said Frankie in a tone that suggested she was at least partially responsible for the success of the session.

'What are you even doing here Anderson. I told you to go to the weapons talk', grumbled Gail.

'Well, hard as it is to believe, I find watching you more entertaining than talking about weapons'.

Gail scrunched her face in disbelief. 'Anderson, you are full of shit'. She looked around to see if she could spy Holly. Maybe she'd left already. Maybe the talk hadn't been that good and she wanted to spare Gail's feelings by not having to make lukewarm comments about the session. Maybe all Holly had wanted at breakfast was to say a quick hello to an ex and then leave. After all it was Gail who said she couldn't keep in contact with Holly once she left for San Francisco. Gail knew she'd been too consumed by anxiety this morning to read Holly's intentions. She shook her head. Like everyone else, Holly had moved on. She was pathetic for getting her hopes up.

Just as Gail began to really berate herself for her stupidity, Holly appeared at her side. Leaning in to touch Gail's arm, she said 'That was amazing. You were amazing'.

Gail blushed. Holly's compliments and the warm feeling of her hand on her arm left her momentarily speechless.

'But, I have to go,' Holly continued in a rush. 'My session is next and then I have some meetings, not meeting meetings but some informal catch-ups with colleagues and then I thought we could meet up for a drink at the hotel bar at 6. I mean if you're free or not busy or want to or not'.

Holly's rambling was adorable and Gail found herself wishing she could stop it like she used to with a kiss. She realized Holly had stopped talking and was now looking at her nervously.

'No, I mean yes, six 'o'clock. I'll be there'.

'Okay', Holly gave her a huge smile as she left.

'Smooth Peck, really smooth', said Frankie shaking her head.

'Oh please Frankie. I bet Holly turned you down at the breakfast bar this morning', snarked Gail.


	3. Three

Holly wished she picked somewhere else to meet Gail. The hotel bar was dark and slightly drab. The majority of the patrons were middle-aged men in suits sitting alone. They had looked at her with interest as she'd entered the bar. Business trippers hoping to get lucky, guessed Holly. Settling into a booth, she decided to wait for Gail before ordering a drink.

Ten minutes passed. Perhaps Gail wasn't going to show. She thought Gail was interested in, well actually she didn't really know. That detective, Frankie Anderson, never seemed to leave her side. Was something going on there? Clearly she cared about Gail otherwise she wouldn't have warned Holly not to break Gail's heart. Frankie obviously knew enough about Gail and Holly's history that she thought a warning was necessary. Which was strange because Gail wasn't normally a sharer. Not with friends at least. Holly had been the exception, though she and Gail were never really just friends.

Had Frankie been warning Holly to back off? Asserting her claim? Then again she couldn't imagine Gail and Frankie together. Even from her brief exchange with the detective, she knew the two women were too similar. Peas in a pod. It would be like dating themselves. Although Frankie was a more abrasive and cockier version of Gail. She didn't have Gail's peculiar brand of charm that Holly found so alluring. Ugh, thought Holly, I need to stop torturing myself.

She looked up to see a ruddy-faced man by her table. The expensive cut of his suit didn't disguise the way the buttons on his business shirt strained across his belly. He had the look of someone who'd enjoyed too many lunches out on the expense account. If he had landed on her slab she'd have put bets on a heart attack. She noticed he was clutching two champagne glasses.

'Mind if I join you', he said, proffering one of the drinks. 'You look like you could use some company. I'm Trevor'.

Before she could respond, Gail slid into the booth and, draping an arm possessively across the back of the seat, leaned in to give Holly a lingering kiss. 'Sorry I'm late honey', she practically purred, her voice husky, before turning to regard Trevor. 'We didn't order champagne'. She smiled at him, except there was no warmth in her expression. It was haughty and a little bit dangerous and Holly had a sudden flash of Elaine Peck. She'd only met her once when she first started working at the morgue, before she knew Gail, and that one encounter had been enough.

Gail immediately turned back to face Holly, putting her back to Trevor, so he was left in doubt he'd been dismissed. If Holly hadn't been so dazed by the kiss, she would have found it hard not laugh at how he visibly shrank before Gail and backed away from the table.

For a moment Gail savored the delicious feeling of being so close to Holly. Even a brief kiss like that triggered a yearning in her. It was always this way with Holly. Once they had crossed the line of friendship when Gail kissed her in the interrogation room they couldn't keep away from each other, the need to constantly touch or kiss overwhelming.

Even if she sucked at reading Holly's feelings, Gail had always been confident about their physical attraction. 'You are completely irresistible', Holly told her not long after they got together. Sex had always been the easy part of their relationship. Gail knew she was good at sex, but that first time with Holly she had been nervous and only partly because she'd never slept with a woman. Sex with guys was simple – it didn't take much to satisfy them and she always felt slightly detached, even with Nick when she thought she was in love with him, but she didn't want that with Holly.

Holly had said she was a natural and the way she called out Gail's name as she came that first time and then held her so close made Gail believe her. Normally she liked distance after sex but she couldn't resist Holly's embrace, enveloped in a feeling so unfamiliar that in the past it would have made her bolt. She had realized with some wonder that it was a feeling of calm, which surprised her given how fervent, even desperate, the sex had been.

Now she wondered if she had overstepped with the kiss. For all she knew Holly had a girlfriend or might be married, it was legal in America now after all. Although she hadn't noticed a ring and surely she would have heard something about it on the gossip mill. When Holly didn't say anything, Gail moved her arm and sat back, putting a bit of distance between them. She hadn't really thought it through when she kissed Holly. In fact she didn't even know what overcame her.

'Sorry', Gail said softly, sounding slightly abashed, 'I just had to stop him talking'.

At this, Holly chuckled, and Gail wondered if she caught the reference to that kiss in the interrogation room. 'Well, it worked Gail. I don't think he'll be bothering us again'.

'So, can I buy you a drink'?

'I think I owe you one, after that'. Holly's tone was unmistakably flirtatious.

Gail smiled. By 'that' did Holly mean getting rid of Trevor or the kiss? 'Here to serve and protect', she wisecracked, but then seeing Holly frown slightly, she quickly added 'Not that you can't handle yourself. You get the next round'. Gail knew she making an assumption. Did Holly even plan on staying for more than one drink?

As Gail went to the bar to order, Holly couldn't help checking her out. She was wearing skin-tight black jeans, her trademark combat boots, a leather jacket and a buttoned shirt of a deep indigo color that set off her eyes. Her hair, while still short, was slightly longer than when Holly had cut it in her bathtub and appeared to be her natural color. Gail was always beautiful but she looked amazing. Somehow fitter and more relaxed.

'So I am actually sorry I was late', Gail said as put two beers down on the table. 'I was, well…', she trailed off.

'You were?' Holly raised her eyebrows quizzically.

'Oh, all right. I was swimming in the hotel pool'.

Holly suppressed a giggle. 'Swimming', she said, clearly skeptical.

'Yes, Holly, swimming. I injured my back chasing a perp about a year ago. Swimming is the only thing that helps it from going out again'. She shook her head. 'Anyway why is it so hard to believe that I would swim'.

Ah, Holly thought, that explained why she looked fitter. She laughed. 'You said yourself you don't do sports'. The comment immediately took Gail back to the batting cages when they were first friends and really, she thought, dating without putting a name to it.

'Well, it's hardly sport. Not your kind anyway. There are no bats or balls. On the plus side, I don't have noodle arms anymore'. Gail gave an impish shrug, clearly delighted by this development.

'So', said Holly, settling back into the booth, 'a detective, huh'. She remembered Gail telling her how she'd sabotaged her first application, making a half-arsed effort to get her mother off her back and at the same time ensure she wouldn't be promoted.

'Yeah, well at least they can't say I got it because of the Peck name'. Gail's tone was light but Holly could sense the bitterness beneath it.

'I heard about that, I mean Steve and your father. It was a little while after. I wanted to reach out but you were adamant you didn't want me to contact you'.

'I know', Gail sighed. 'The place I was in - I'm not sure it would have helped'. She knew Holly didn't understand why she had to cut contact once Holly left Toronto. Why she made her promise to let Gail make the first move when she was ready, even if she couldn't give Holly any indication of when or even if that would happen.

Gail was friends with her other exes and Holly didn't get why she was the exception. But those guys were idiots, thought Gail. With them she never felt the way she felt about Holly. Back then, with the two of them being pulled in different directions - Holly by her dream job and Gail so sure about staying to adopt Sophie - she couldn't tell Holly that she was the love of her life. That it would break her heart again and again every time she spoke to her. That she couldn't bear to hear about Holly moving on, making a new life away from her and eventually, no doubt, with a new girlfriend.

'How is Steve doing?' Holly had liked Steve despite the arrogance that sat beneath his charm, and which no doubt came from being, as Gail once described him, 'the Peck golden child'.

Gail shrugged. 'As well as can be expected for an ex-cop in prison. He's not exactly anyone's favorite. I visit when I can. The rest of 15 won't have anything to do with him, which I get. He'll be out in two months though. At least he's talking to me. I'm kinda dead to my parents'. She laughed hollowly.

'Oh Gail', Holly couldn't help but reach for her hand.

'No, no its okay Holly. No more Peck dinners. No more ExPecktations. It's kinda of liberating. Although it's a shame I had to destroy my family to be free of them'.

Holly's expression was sympathetic. 'You didn't destroy them. They did that to themselves. It was brave, what you did'.

Except it wasn't thought Gail. She had come close to lying on the stand for Steve. Outside the court room, her father was so devoid of warmth and so unyielding, so intent on coercing Gail to save Steve, his willingness to compromise her and his disregard of her feelings so depressingly familiar. She felt reduced to her child self, when she had no capacity to resist her parent's subtle bullying to do what they deemed right and which she often suspected was wrong. Then it had made her angry and small and reckless and, as she now recognized, had everything to do with her propensity for self-destruction.

'And what happened to Sophie?' Holly hardly dare ask.

'I had to give up on that. It was at the same time as Steve's court case. There was a couple who wanted to adopt her. They already had one child, a family. It was better for Sophie'.

Holly felt her heart break. How much had Gail had to endure? She cursed herself for not reaching out when she had heard about Steve.

'But Holly', Gail continued, 'I was kidding myself when I said I was ready to be a mom. Remember I told you sometimes I still acted like a teenager. It was true. I needed to grow up. I mean look what I did to our relationship'.

'Do you think it would have worked if I'd stayed?' Holly tried to keep the hopeful edge out of her voice.

Gail paused before she answered, clearly trying to choose her words carefully. 'I needed to sort myself out, and well, you, you ran as soon as I was stupid.

Oh, thought Holly, that hurt.

'Not that I blame you', Gail gave a sad shrug. 'I think we would have imploded'.

'And now?'

'Now', said Gail, deciding to answer the question as if it was about her alone, 'Now, I'm a work in progress. I see a therapist regularly'.

The therapist made sense to Holly. When they were together, Gail had been more open with Holly than with anyone else, but Holly knew there were still walls. This Gail, seated before her, seemed more self-reflective and less guarded.

'And are you seeing anyone now?'

Gail shook her head no.

'So Frankie…' Holly trailed off.

'We had a thing, well not really a thing. It was…' Gail screwed up her face as if looking for the right words. 'I mean we're friends'.

'So' said Holly a little caustically, trying to mask her jealousy, 'Fuck buddies'.

'Uhh. I guess'. How did she explain to Holly that Frankie was the only one who hadn't left. That in her own off-hand way Frankie understood how numb and broken Gail's family, and especially Steve's betrayal, had left her.

There had been others. Frankie said Gail was having her lesbian adolescence. At first Frankie was impressed and then a little resentful at how easy it was for Gail to pick up girls. Nothing lasted though, and ultimately it was just easier to have sex with Frankie. The sex was good, although not, as Frankie had boasted, the best sex of her life – because really nothing could top sex with Holly. When Gail realized it was becoming more than sex for Frankie she put an end to it.

'So nothing serious?'

'One. Sort of serious. It only lasted six months', which Gail realized was longer than she and Holly had been together. 'She's an architect. I met her when she came to draw up plans to renovate my house'.

'You have a house'. Holly's eyebrows arched in surprise.

'Yes. My grandmother died just after Steve went to prison. She, uh, actually left me quite a bit of money. She was the only Peck that didn't excommunicate me. So now I have a house and even a garden, and Chloe and I have planted vegetables'.

'Chloe?' Holy was confused. Was Gail living with Chloe whose incessant chatter and positivity drove her crazy? How much else had changed?

'Yeah, she needed somewhere to stay when she and Dov broke up. And it sort of worked, so she's still there. Although, I have a feeling the dork kingdom might soon be rejoicing their reunion'.

Holly was reeling at the information Gail had shared. She felt unsettled at the thought of Gail with Frankie, or if she was truthful, anyone else. She knew she had no right to feel this way. She needed to collect herself.

'Do you want another drink?' she asked.

'Actually I'm hungry. Do you want to get dinner', said Gail

Holly nodded. As they stood to leave, Trevor was suddenly there, blocking their way. He clearly had had quite a lot to drink since he had tried to pick up Holly, and he swayed slightly, his ruddy face belligerent.

'I don't believe you two are gay', he said 'You're too beautiful'.

'Excuse me', said Holly, beginning to bristle.

Gail stepped in front of the man. That dangerous smile was back. Gesturing to him, she said 'Look at you' and then pointing between Holly and herself, 'Look at us. In what universe would either of us prefer to go home with you'. Then taking Holly's hand, she swept past him and out into hotel lobby and walked straight into Frankie.

Frankie had found a companion since Gail had last seen her that morning. They had agreed, after Gail's presentation, to actually do some work and split the sessions. The woman was blonde and blue-eyed, her hair short like Gail's, but unlike Gail her skin was almost golden. She looked fresh-faced. Gail guessed she was not much more than twenty. Her name was Sandra, and she was with the San Francisco Police Department, so of course she knew Holly. Although, Holly looked slightly vague at that.

'So, Peck, where are you scurrying off to?' asked Frankie.

'Dinner'. Gail hoped her monosyllabic reply would discourage Frankie, but she had no such luck.

'We'll tag along', said Frankie, the glint in her eye unmistakably mischievous.

…...

Gail woke the following morning with a throbbing head. Her eyes felt grainy and her mouth stale. Great, she thought, hung-over. Turning in the bed, she saw a familiar brunette.

'Fuck, what have I done'?


	4. Four

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of these characters etc..  
…...

Gail closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her throbbing temple. She remembered the four of them coming back to her room last night. Gail had flopped onto the king sized bed, her back against the headboard, and Frankie had immediately sat down next to her. The only other furniture in the room was a narrow sofa, which was where Holly and girl-cop, as Gail had decided to call Sandra, had perched a little awkwardly.

On the way back to the hotel, Frankie had suggested they get tequila and now took charge of pouring the shots, except instead of shot glasses they were tumblers and Frankie wasn't holding back. Holly had stopped at one and switched to water and Frankie didn't seem to be drinking at all.

The two of them were locked in some sort of battle of wits that Gail now realized had started back at the restaurant. Gail wanted to tell Frankie not to bother. That Holly was too smart, that she'd give as good as she got and then some, that snark just bounced off the nerd, but Gail's head was too clouded by alcohol to form the right words.

If she hadn't been half-drunk and if it hadn't been so ridiculous, Gail might have noticed it earlier but she became aware that she was actually the object of this contest. It was annoying and stupid and confusing because she was fairly certain Frankie's infatuation with her was not only an aberration but had been short-lived and, judging by the number of girls the detective had been with since, she'd moved on quickly, and then Holly, well Holly had chosen San Francisco so why was she even invested.

Girl-cop had watched the verbal sparring with a growing curiosity. She had the eager but awestruck look of a kid allowed at the grown-ups table. Then, after several shots her eyes lost focus and she began to subside into the small sofa. Gail had wondered briefly if she was even old enough to drink and whether, as upholders of the law, they should be giving her alcohol. Perhaps they should have carded her, thought Gail and laughed out loud at the idea. This drew the attention of the two other women - Holly gave Gail a quizzical smile and Frankie just looked peeved.

Gail gave a dismissive, slightly uncoordinated flap of her hand in their direction. She was now drunk, really drunk, and wondered whether it was obvious. She used to drink people under the table but then her therapist told her about the high percentage of cops who were alcoholics and suggested she find other 'coping mechanisms' so she'd decided to cut back. Now she mainly stuck to a couple of beers and saved tequila for special occasions and, though she hadn't admitted it to Holly, she'd actually found exercise to be a better stress reliever.

Holly stood abruptly. 'It's nearly midnight. This has been fun but I'm going to go'.

Frankie gave a thin smile, which made Gail think the detective believed she'd won this round with Holly. Gail pushed up off the bed, which took some effort given her state of inebriation, and then, steadying herself, announced she would walk Holly to the elevator.

Frankie and Holly, but Frankie in particular, had tried to persuade her out of the idea and to lie back down, which she figured meant they had indeed noticed she was wasted. The more they tried to stop her, the more loudly insistent she became. She knew she was acting like the messy drunks she'd lock up on a Saturday night but she had passed the point where she could stop herself.

She heard herself saying over and over, 'Plus one, forever', holding up her index finger each time she said 'one' to emphasize the word. Frankie had finally butted in to say, 'What thrre fuck are you talking about Gail?'

'It is why,' Gail said, slowly and carefully so she didn't slur her words, but in a tone that suggested Frankie was quite possibly dim-witted because she needed this explained, 'It is why I have to take Lunchbox to the elevator'.

At this, Holly titled her head and gave Gail an indulgent smile, but Frankie looked exasperated. 'What lunchbox? Gail just sit down', Frankie said, not disguising her annoyance.

It was at this point that girl-cop stumbled to her feet. Gail realized the girl hadn't said a word –actually hadn't even moved- for the last 30 minutes and she now looked positively green.

'I think I'm going to be'. Girl-cop clamped a hand to her mouth.

'Anderson if she pukes in my room, one I'm not sleeping here, and two you're picking up my tab at the Penny for the next month', said Gail, sounding surprisingly sober.

Frankie pulled girl-cop into the bathroom with a sour expression, clearly unimpressed by the sudden turn of events. The diversion was all Gail needed to slip out of the room. Pausing at the door, she turned to look at Holly with a mischievous grin, and said 'Are you coming Stewart'.

Once at the elevator, she had pressed Holly against the wall and kissed her sloppily. Holly had pushed her away gently, saying 'You are too drunk, Gail'.

And that, Gail had to admit, was all she could remember of last night.

…...

Holly couldn't understand why Gail had allowed Frankie to hijack their dinner, although to be honest the detective hadn't given them much choice. Short of being outright rude, which normally didn't faze Gail, they had had to acquiesce. She found herself wondering, and not for the first time that evening, what sort of hold Frankie had or wanted over Gail?

They found a Thai restaurant not far from the hotel, and once they were seated Frankie gave Holly her full attention and largely ignored the other two women. There was something calculated about Frankie's scrutiny that Holly found slightly unnerving.

'So I guess you and Sandra have worked cases together', said Frankie, with a nod in the direction of the young cop, who blushed furiously.

This was why Holly had been vague about knowing her. Officer Sandra Wolek either had a crush on her or was pathologically shy because every time Holly encountered her at a crime scene she turned crimson and dropped her gaze. Holly was fairly certain it was the former, because she'd then overheard the rookie begging her partner not to make her accompany Holly to the morgue because she 'just went to pieces in front of the doctor'. Her partner had laughed and told her to 'just ask the doc already, what's the worse, she can say no'.

'A few times, yeah', said Holly in answer to Frankie's question and if anything Officer Wolek's face became redder. God, she hoped Gail didn't pick up on that because she suspected she might be merciless with the officer. On the way here, Gail had already asked with faux innocence when the San Francisco Police Department had started recruiting children.

While she hadn't stopped Frankie and Wolek from joining them, judging by the acerbic comments she was aiming at them, Gail was clearly annoyed by their presence. Frankie seemed unperturbed and Wolek was too distracted by her proximity to Holly to take offence or perhaps even comprehend that she was the target of Gail's snark, which only seemed to spur Gail on.

It came as something of a relief to Holly when Frankie started to question her about San Francisco and her job. Holly described at some length and with increasing enthusiasm how charming she found parts of the city, how the mix in her job of research and the practical, working with the police and performing autopsies, suited her perfectly, how she never tired of solving the puzzle of how someone died, and how she was working with a colleague from New York on a book which was making a number of claims that could shake things up in the forensic field.

Drawing breath, she saw that Wolek was hanging on her every word, Frankie was smirking and Gail was sitting still and silent. Gone was the openness of earlier and instead Gail had withdrawn into herself. Morose, thought Holly, she looks morose, and suddenly Holly saw what Frankie was trying to do. The more Holly described her life in San Francisco the more out of reach she was to Gail – well she suspected that's what Gail would believe - that there was no place for her in Holly's life and no hope that the doctor would ever return to Toronto.

Back in the bar, Holly had been impressed by the transformation in Gail, but now she realized Gail hadn't shed her old insecurities and self-doubts. Clearly Frankie knew this too and her questions were calculated to make Gail feel that Holly had left her behind, and not just by physically leaving but also by carving out a successful life without Gail.

With this realization, Holly looked pointedly at Gail, 'But I miss Toronto and everyone there. And my contract i s up soon and, while I love the job, it's a job right, and I spend too much time there and my social life is practically non-existent and I need to get a better work-life balance. And, well, every city has dead bodies right, well I mean not that that's good, but it gives me a lot of options of where to work and live, so you know, who knows'.

Holly knew she was rambling. Something about Gail always seemed to set her off. Secretly she knew that Gail had found it adorable, but it didn't seem to be having that effect now.

When Holly had finished speaking, Frankie had smirked again and looked at her knowingly, as if acknowledging that Holly had found her out. Now she tried a new tack. Instead of questioning Holly, Frankie started to talk about some of the more bizarre cases she and Gail had been involved in, constantly turning to Gail and touching her arm, trying to draw her in to corroborate the stories.

'Gail, do you remember that time we got that call at 4am. We'd practically had no sleep that night', Frankie directed a sly smile at Gail, 'and you almost threw my phone at the wall. Luckily we picked up though. Three bodies. Frozen in Black Creek. They'd turned up in the spring thaw. Ever see something like that Holly?'

Holly nodded. 'Run of the mill in a place like Canada'.

She noticed Gail was looking increasingly irritated. Wolek had perked up when Frankie intimated sI he and Gail had been sharing a bed. Holly groaned inwardly. Wolek probably thought the two were together and it gave her a chance with Holly.

Perhaps this was part of Frankie's plan. Maybe that's why she'd dragged Wolek along, in the hope that her presence would muddy the waters and so make it difficult for anything to happen between Holly and Gail. Surely, reasoned Holly, Frankie couldn't be so devious. And why did she want to come between she and Gail? Gail had indicated that the thing she and Frankie had had was over, hadn't she? Or is that what Holly had wanted to believe? She sighed. Why was everything with Gail so complicated?

Excusing herself, Holly went to the restroom. She splashed cold water on her face. Looking in the mirror she could see she looked tired and a little drawn. She felt exhausted by Frankie's games - unable to let her guard down for a moment and unsure of Frankie's motives. She needed to get Gail alone to talk to her.

As she approached their table on her return from the restroom, Holly heard Gail snarl, 'What the fuck Anderson. Why do you keep touching me'

'You liked it in the past, Gail', Frankie said tartly and Holly realized that it was the first time she heard her call Gail by her first name.

'Not that much, believe me', came Gail's reply.

Holly couldn't help smiling. She looked at the three women and said brightly 'Shall, I get the check?'

…...

Frankie woke to find Gail shaking her roughly and demanding, 'What the fuck are you doing in my bed Anderson?'

'Good morning to you too, Peck', Frankie said, deliberately sounding unconcerned knowing this would infuriate Gail even more.

'What did we do last night?' Gail's eyes were hard and her mouth twisted in disdain, but Frankie detected dismay beneath the contempt. Frankie laughed. Pulling back the bed sheets to reveal that she was dressed in a t-shirt and boy-shorts, she said, 'Don't worry. You're virtue is safe Peck'

'So we didn't…' Gail trailed off.

'Believe me you'd remember if we did', said Frankie, and if Gail hadn't been feeling so hungover she would have rolled her eyes. 'After Holly left, you and girl-cop both passed out. So I thought the responsible thing to do was to stay and make sure you were both okay. She had the sofa, you were snoring loud enough to wake the dead - I didn't think you'd mind if I crashed here'.

Gail noticed that girl-cop was indeed lying rather awkwardly on the little sofa. She must still be drunk. She hadn't even stirred when Gail was yelling at Frankie. Gail was certain she and Frankie would not have had sex when someone else was in the room, even if that person was comatose. And looking down, Gail saw that she herself was fully dressed. Not that that necessarily meant she hadn't had sex, but it did reduce the odds somewhat.

'But wait, I thought I went with Holly?' said Gail.

'Yeah, you did, but when you came back you collapsed on the bed and said you didn't want to talk anymore. Not that you had been talking much anyway'. Frankie shrugged, 'And now, you probably need water and painkillers'.

Gail started to nod, but winced when it intensified the pounding in her head. After gulping down some Tylenol, she decided a shower might clear her muddled thoughts. At the very least it would give her some space from Frankie, who was becoming more and more overbearing as the conference progressed.

Frankie lay back on the bed. Gail was such a prickly thing, she thought. Although to be honest, she wasn't much better and maybe that's why they looked out for each other. She wondered if she should wake girl-cop or just let her sleep it off. Her musings were interrupted by a knock on a door. She suspected she knew who it was and, when she opened the door, she did indeed find Holly standing outside expectantly.

Holly was clearly surprised to see Frankie and her eyes narrowed as she took in her outfit. At that moment, Gail emerged out of the bathroom, saying 'Anderson, I know I'm irresistible but if you were going to sleep With me, you should have asked first'. Never one to be too concerned with modesty, she had a towel draped rather carelessly around her.

Frankie hadn't taken her eyes off Holly and she suddenly knew what people meant when they said someone's face dropped. Holly looked devastated.

'I didn't mean to disturb you', she said backing away from the door. 'You obviously are…I'm just going to go'.

'Holly, wait. Its not what it looks like', pleaded Gail, but Holly had gone. 'Shit, Frankie, stop her', Gail said, not bothering to hide the desperation in her voice.

Frankie gestured to herself. 'Not appropriately dressed'.

'Well, neither am I. Go after her'.

'Isn't that your thing', said Frankie.

Gail pushed past her and out into the corridor but there was no sign of Holly. Fuck, fuck, fuck, she thought. She hadn't believed this morning could get any worse but once again the universe seemed to be conspiring against her.

…...

After dressing quickly, Gail headed downstairs to look for Holly. She tried the café first, but there was no sign of the doctor. It was the final day of the conference and the morning sessions were about to begin. Gail frantically searched each of the conference rooms but with no luck. Perhaps Holly had gone back to her room, but Gail realized she didn't even know which floor she was staying on, let alone her room number.

Approaching the reception desk, she gave the rather solemn looking concierge a big smile. 'I wonder if you can help. I'm at the conference and I'm trying to get a message to a friend who is also part of the conference but I've forgotten her room number'.

The concierge drew himself up, as if ready to be challenged. 'Ma'am, I think you'll understand that it is a matter of policy that we don't give out the room numbers of our guests'.

'Yes, its just that I promised to get this information to her first thing this morning, and I over slept sooo…', Gail tried to wheedle but the concierge was impassive.

'If you'd like to leave a message for the guest, we'd be happy to pass it on', he said, the officious sound in his voice unmistakable.

'Its okay, I'm a detective', said Gail, drawing out her badge, 'You can trust me'. In the past Gail would have worried that such an abuse of power would have sent her to Peck hell, but now she thought bitterly it probably just made a little more like her brother and father but she was desperate.

The concierge was not to be swayed however. 'Detective, I'm sure you'd be aware that we have obligations to protect the privacy of our guests. However, if this was a police matter? 'He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

'No, no its not', said Gail backing down, 'But could you at least phone her room to see if she can meet me here downstairs. It's Holly Stewart'. The concierge nodded and wordlessly put a call through to Holly's room but she didn't pick up.

Gail couldn't imagine where Holly had gone. She didn't think Holly knew anyone in Chicago. She decided to wait in the lobby just near the conference area to see if Holly showed. By mid morning she hadn't reappeared and the concierge was giving Gail some very pointed looks.

Having skipped breakfast, Gail was starting to feel hungry. She was dehydrated from the night before and desperate for a coffee. Realizing the conference would be breaking soon for morning refreshments, she decided to head over to the conference break room. Here she found Rodney helping himself to a muffin and very milky tea.

'Rodney, have you seen Holly?'

'Gail, ah hi. No, but I heard Dr Stewart was called out this morning by the Chicago forensic department to consult on a case. A tricky one by all accounts and they needed a second, expert opinion. One of our colleagues from Chicago who is here at the conference recommended her'.

'Oh', said Gail, trying to disguise her relief, 'That makes sense'.

'Yeah, she is so sought after. My boss said she's been headhunted by the National Forensic Science Institute in France. Its like a world leader in forensics', Rodney said, with some awe.

Of course Holly was sought after and not just here in Chicago, but internationally. With sudden clarity, she thought Lisa was right when she said Holly was out of her league, and not because she was a beat cop but because Holly was going places and Gail would just hold her back. Holly could get a job anywhere in the world but Toronto was in Gail's blood. Policing in Toronto was who she was. She couldn't leave the city. After the Peck scandal, the sensible thing to do would have been to cut and run, but freed from the suffocating weight of ExPecktations she had realized that she liked her job and was good at it. Turning her back on it would make no difference to her family but it would destroy an important part of her.

Suddenly Gail understood what Frankie had been tying to do the night before. By getting Holly to talk about her life and her work, Frankie wanted Gail to see that she did indeed have no place in it, and in her own twisted way Frankie was trying to protect Gail.

Gail knew she had no right to hold Holly back. She was overcome by the same inestimable sadness that struck her in the locker room when Holly asked her to go to San Francisco. While every part of her had craved to be with Holly, they had arrived at such vastly different points in their lives and in that moment she realised that this, not physical distance, is what would separate them and that she had no choice but to let Holly go. And it was that same immeasurable sadness that filled Gail when she came to the decision that Sophie would do better with another family and that she'd have to relinquish her too.

…...

It was late afternoon when Holly returned to the hotel. The autopsy had taken longer than anticipated and she was running late for the final session of the conference. It was a panel discussion that she had agreed to chair. As she crossed the lobby, she came face to face with Frankie. God, she thought, what does this insufferable woman want now?

…...

Gail was standing outside the conference room chewing her lip nervously. She knew Holly was scheduled to chair the final session and thought this might be her last chance to speak with her. She looked up to see Frankie walking towards her, followed by Holly. Frankie gave her the thumbs up before disappearing into the conference room. Holly came to a stop to in front of her, her face breaking out into a lop-sided smile.

'Frankie told me about last night. I'm sorry Gail, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. But it hurt, because, well I think you know why'. Holly had been surprised that Frankie had sought her out to reassure her that her presence in Gail's room was innocent, telling Holly 'if you don't believe me ask girl-cop, she was there too'.

At first Holly could not understand why Frankie, who had been so unyielding last night, was now so determined to clear up this misapprehension. Then it dawned on her. Frankie had been testing her. Frankie was Gail's family now and she looked out for her. When they first met she had warned Holly not to break Gail's heart, and last night had been all about making certain Holly was worthy of Gail. Frankie had done everything possible to chase Holly away and Holly hadn't been scared off.

'And we need to talk', Holly continued, 'About this, about us and other things, but especially us. I mean we tell each other things, right. And there is something you need to know. I've been offered a job back in Toronto, a promotion, deputy chief of forensics', Holly said in a rush.

'But its not the only job offer you've had is it Holly', Gail's tone was soft and resigned.

'Yeah, I've had one from a place in Paris', said Holly, clearly surprised Gail knew about this.

'You can barely speak French, Holly'.

'Well you do Gail'.

'Shit, Holly are you asking me to go to France with you, because that is even stupider than when you asked me to go to San Francisco. We haven't even spoken in nearly two years!' Gail exclaimed.

Before Holly could respond, a conference organizer was at the door. 'Ah, Dr Stewart, you're here. We are just waiting on you to start'.

Holly looked from Gail to the organizer and then back again to Gail. 'Please, can we talk about this after?' she said.

'Dr Stewart, we really need to get started', the organizer said, her impatience clear, and placing a hand on Holly's elbow steered her into the conference room.

…...

Gail was back in the hotel bar. It really is a depressing place, she thought. She had placed a tumbler of whiskey and two shots of tequila on the table in front of her. Gail sighed. She should just accept it. She was going to grow old and bitter with Frankie.

…...

For the second morning in a row, Gail woke to find a familiar brunette in her bed. However, this time instead of cursing, Gail smiled and ran a hand down the brunette's very naked back and then over her stomach and lower still till she heard a delightful moan. And this time, she could remember every single delicious detail of what had happened the night before.


	5. Five

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….

…...

Gail knew they were being too loud and hoped the walls were soundproof or that the people on either side of her room were out, otherwise there might be complaints. This was the third orgasm she had had since Holly showed up at her door, and it was so intense and lasting so incredibly long that she felt incapable of being quiet and was in fact now beyond caring if they disturbed anyone.

The first time had been feverish, both of them stumbling to the bed as they tried to take their clothes off and touch and kiss all at once, unable to decide what to do first. The second had been slower as they took their time to reacquaint themselves with each other's bodies, the urgency of the first time giving way to a savoring of the familiar. Their unhurried rediscovery made headier by Holly's declaration.

Now Holly had two fingers inside Gail and her thumb on her clit, and was pulling one of Gail's nipples gently between her teeth before running the flat of her tongue over it and then moving up to kiss her, and Gail couldn't believe that three hours ago she had resigned herself to a loveless future.

…...

From her position on the podium, Holly had seen Gail find a seat at the very back of the room. She had taken this as a sign that Gail would wait around to talk, but ten minutes before the session was due to conclude, Gail left. Surrounded, as she was, by the other four panel members and an audience, there was no way Holly could follow her, not without creating a scene. Besides it would be highly unprofessional, something Holly found anathema, although in this moment she wished she had a little less of the work ethic.

Holly's plan to leave as soon as the session ended was thwarted when she found herself besieged by colleagues eager to talk to her about the session, her latest research and the upcoming book. A good half hour passed before Holly could extricate herself with promises to continue the conversation at the conference dinner that evening.

Making her way to the hotel lobby, she found herself face to face with girl-cop. God, thought Holly, when did I start calling her that. Girl-cop brightened when she spotted Holly, almost as if she'd been deliberately waiting here for the doctor. It occurred to Holly that she couldn't seem to step into the lobby without running into someone she'd rather avoid. Just as girl-cop was about to speak, Holly cut her off, for once not caring about being polite.

'Have you seen Gail?' she asked, trying not to sound as desperate as she felt.

Girl-cop's face flattened slightly. 'She was here when I came out of the session. I think she was headed to the bar'. Holly nodded her thanks.

The bar was quiet, still at little early for all but the hardened drinkers and Gail was not among them. The barman confirmed she had been there but had left about ten minutes before. 'Kind of blonde, blue eyes, attractive, woman of few words?' he asked Holly, who nodded. ' She went out that side exit, where the washrooms are,' he said jerking his head towards the back of the bar, 'She might have just gone to the ladies because she left her drinks'. He gestured to a table where Holly spied two shots and a tumbler of whisky. All three drinks were untouched.

Holy felt a slight panic. Had something happened to Gail? Was she unwell? Passed out? Checking the restroom, she found it was empty. She noticed that the passageway to the restrooms also led to a bank of elevators in the lobby, which were tucked away slightly to the side of the reception desk. It was possible Gail had slipped out this way and taken the elevator to her room, which was why both she and Girl-cop would have missed her leaving the bar.

As Holly was weighing up whether she should check for Gail in her room or return to the bar, the elevator dinged and Rodney emerged. He was clearly delighted to see his old boss and keen to talk about the case that Holly had consulted on that morning. Once again not caring if she was being rude, Holly interrupted to ask if he'd seen Gail.

'Oh, yes', he nodded, 'She was getting out of the elevator as I got in. She decided to take an earlier flight back to Toronto tonight and was going to her room to pack'.

Holly couldn't hide the alarm she felt on hearing this. 'Oh, I have to go speak to her'. She felt a little guilty brushing Rodney off, but if Gail was planning on leaving tonight she knew she had no time to waste.

Rodney watched as Holly jabbed the elevator button impatiently. He could tell she was flustered. At work she was, without fail, composed and in control. Even when faced with the most difficult or disturbing cases, Holly was measured, not allowing emotions to overwhelm the science or cloud her judgment, knowing emotions would impede her quest to find answers, to provide some resolution for those left behind.

The only time Rodney ever saw her agitated at work was because of Gail. Like the time she rushed down to 15 after hearing some cops had been shot at. He suspected that whatever was flustering Holly now had everything to do with Gail and that Gail's early departure wasn't, as she had told him, because she 'was sick of the sight of Anderson', but had everything to do with Holly.

…...

When Gail heard the knock on the door, she guessed it had to be Holly or Frankie, but she didn't want to face either of them. They wouldn't know if she was actually in her room, so she figured if she just ignored the knocking who ever it was would go away. Taking out her suitcase, she placed it on the bed and began to pack. When the knocking didn't stop, she sighed and went to open the door. Holly was standing there, her face a mix of worry and something else and Gail recognized that it was agitation, and wondered guiltily if she was the cause.

It reminded her of how Holly had been when she dragged Gail into the interrogation room when Ford was on the loose. Gail knew, just as she had grasped back then, that Holly was here because she cared deeply about her, but unlike then she also knew they had missed their chance at a relationship, or if she was honest she had fucked up their chance.

'Holly', it can't work. We never get the timing right', Gail said, anticipating what Holly would say, her tone soft and regretful.

Holly responded by handing Gail a file. 'That meeting I had yesterday, it was with the Chief of Ontario Forensics. Take a look', she said.

Gail frowned. What was Holly up to now, she wondered. Opening the file, she found what appeared to be an employment contract. Scanning the papers, she saw Holly's signature alongside that of the Chief Forensic Pathologist of Ontario. 'Holly, what the hell?' Gail's words were cut off as Holly yanked the file out of her hands and then pulled her into a fierce kiss. Gail didn't stop to think. She kissed Holly back, but as the kiss grew more heated, she drew back.

'What about the job in Paris?'

'I turned it down', said Holly, 'Believe me I've tried really hard to move on. I've dated other women, I've thrown myself into work, I've even thought about moving to the other side of the world, but none of it works'. Holly words came out in a rush, and as she spoke she began to move her hands around nervously. Gail watched her intently, her expression giving nothing away.

'You're it for me. I want I want everything with you. I want to be with you, to make a life with you and I've never felt that way about anyone else. And maybe, maybe you don't feel the same way, but I need you to know this, and I shouldn't have waited this long to tell you. And even if you don't want to be with me, I'm still coming back because I miss Toronto, I miss my friends and my family and I even miss the job but mainly I miss you and'.

Gail didn't let Holly finish. Placing her hands on either side of Holly's face, she leaned in and kissed her.

…...

After the second time, they lay tangled together, their limbs heavy and their skin pleasantly humming. Holly held Gail close and for a while they stayed like that, still and content, not wanting to break the exquisiteness of the moment. Gail knew her own smile mirrored Holly's blissful one. If it had been anyone else, she would have called them saps. She felt like something had passed between them, an acknowledgement of what they meant to each other that made it clear there would be no turning back now, no misunderstanding of intentions.

It occurred to her then that this is what she had thought when she and Holly were first together, when she confessed to Dov, in a rare fit of candor, the depth of her feelings for Holly. She had assumed Holly felt the same way, only to have that certainty shattered hours later when she heard Holly tell Lisa that they were having fun. She knew now that she had over-reacted, that Holly was trying to brush Lisa off. At the time though, when she believed she had found someone she could finally really love and who might love her, broken and prickly and full of self-doubt as she was, hearing those words had confirmed her fears that she was indeed unlovable, that she wasn't, as Nick had told her, girlfriend material let alone someone Holly might want a future with.

It was that assumption, well that and her insecurities and her inclination to self-sabotage, that had left Gail without Holly and led her here, nearly two years later, wanting desperately to start again. She would do what ever it took not to make that mistake again, to throw away the most wonderful person she had ever met, and it struck her that this time round she needed to be measured and cautious.

'We should date', Gail said, breaking the silence.

'Date?' Holly blinked in surprise.

'Yes, when you get back to Toronto'.

'Gail', said Holly, shifting up the bed to sit up, 'Isn't it a bit late to think about dating? We've just had sex - twice'

Gail arched one of her sculptured eyebrows. 'I had noticed that, Holly. In fact, I am only just regaining the use of my limbs'. Holly smirked as Gail continued, 'But I wasn't kidding when I told you yesterday that I'm a work in progress. I push people away and I've never really had a successful relationship. The jury's still out on whether I am actually girlfriend material'.

'Gail', Holly interrupted with a sympathetic sigh, hating Nick for making Gail believe this. 'Did you hear what I said before. I want to be with you, I want a relationship with you, which means I think you most definitely are girlfriend material'.

Ah, Gail thought, so we are on the same page. She smiled, feeling warm but slightly abashed at Holly's faith in her. 'Okay, but last time we just rushed into things and look what happened. I mean one minute we were friends and then we were kissing in the interrogation room, then I was cutting off my hair and the next thing we were having sex and then it was over', she said, 'Sex was always the easy thing for us. Maybe if we take it slow, have a few dates, we can get the rest right'.

'You do know', said Holly, 'That our first date was actually the batting cages'.

'Alright, alright, yes I suppose it was. But I don't want to fuck this up this time. Holly, I'm still a brat and impetuous and self-destructive'.

'Gail', Holly drew her name out in a gentle admonishment. 'I'm also guilty of being impulsive. I kissed you in a coatroom when I thought you were straight. I dated someone immediately after you, then asked you to come to San Francisco when we weren't even together. I didn't even think it through, you know, why it would hurt you to hear me say we were just having fun. I just got angry with you for ignoring me'.

Gail grimaced at that, and shook her head sadly. 'I didn't make it easy for you, Holly. I created that stupid emergency and then I didn't talk to you. And yesterday in the bar I was tying so hard to prove to you how much I've changed and then look how I behaved last night'.

Holly titled her head to the side and smiled at Gail, 'I think maybe Frankie has a lot to answer for that. If she hadn't showed, I was going to tell you about the job and coming back to Toronto'.

'About that, what if I was seeing someone?'

'I guess I would have tried to be your friend at least. I told you I planned on coming back regardless of how you felt about me. I didn't even know I was going to be at the conference until the last minute. So I didn't think I'd see you until I was back in Toronto. And I did kind of cheat, I checked with Rodney and he was fairly sure you were single'.

'Really, you gossiped with Rodney?' Gail exclaimed, with mock outrage.

'I wouldn't exactly call it gossiping. Just checking on a colleague. So dating, does that mean no sex?'

'Well, not straightaway. I mean Holly, I don't imagine you're the kind of girl who puts out on a first date,' said Gail cheekily.

'So how long before?'

'God you scientists, always needing to measure and calculate. These things happen organically, I don't think you can put a timeframe on it', Gail teased.

'So', said Holly, leaning in to kiss Gail, and then running her hand across her stomach to the underside of her breast, 'this no sex rule, when does it start?'

Gail's breath hitched. 'Oh, when you get to Toronto. Definitely when you get to Toronto'.

…...

They had continued on in the morning as they had the night before. Gail decided that the noise Holly made as she came was her most favorite sound in the world. Now as Holly's orgasm subsided, Gail made her way from between Holly's legs, kissing a trail up her body before stopping to kiss her on the lips. Holly moaned as she tasted herself on Gail. Sex with Gail had always been astonishing, but last night, and now this morning, Gail had an assuredness that Holly found as sexy as hell. She wondered if it came from having slept with other women or the fact that she had finally been completely open about how she felt about Gail. Well, almost completely open, she thought, neither had used the l word yet. A pounding on the door interrupted her musings.

'Who do you think it is', she asked Gail.

'Hopefully not hotel management. You were a little loud nerd'.

'I could say the same thing about you', Holly countered.

'Well, if we ignore it, they'll probably go away', Gail said, even though that same logic had failed her last night. When the pounding not only continued but also increased in volume, Gail realized that just like last night she had no choice but to answer the door. As she opened it, Frankie pushed past her and into the room as if her being there was the most natural thing in the world. She was carrying a cardboard tray with two coffee cups. Gail could see Holly scrambling to cover herself with the sheet.

'Anderson, what the hell?' said Gail, suddenly realizing she had spent a lot of the last two days saying this or words to that effect to the detective. She was conscious the room smelled headily of sex and instinct told her to put herself between Frankie and Holly, so she scuttled after the detective.

'The car for the airport leaves in 40 minutes. We're giving girl-cop a ride. Holly, she said you're on the same flight to San Francisco, so you can come with us. I got you coffee and pastries – I figured you might need refueling', Frankie smirked as she handed first Holly and then Gail coffee, and put the pastries on the nightstand. Then with her hands free, she extracted her phone from her pocket and took a photo of the two women.

'Anderson, what the actual fuck?' Gail said.

'Just needed evidence so I could collect on a bet with Rodney', said Frankie blithely.

'What bet, Frankie', Gail enunciated each word, her face thunderous.

'About Dr Stewart's whereabouts last night. You were missed Holly', Frankie said insouciantly. 'Rodney didn't believe that you two were finally having sex. He was convinced Peck was on a flight back to Toronto and that Holly would only miss the dinner because of an emergency. But I was right, you spent the night fucking, and it would seem the morning too'.

Gail felt herself going red, and she suspected that under her tan skin Holly was also blushing. Frankie was at her most obnoxious when she was smug, thought Gail.

'See you downstairs in, oh, 35 minutes', said Frankie with exaggerated sweetness and with that she left the room.

Holly recovered first. 'Is she a package deal?'

'I'm afraid so,' said Gail, 'in a weird way she looks out for me. What', she pointed between Holly and herself, 'are you reconsidering?'

'Never,' said Holly, 'I can handle Frankie'.

'You know she'll take credit for getting us back together', Gail said, 'Oh and when you start work as the Deputy Chief of Forensics can you ride Rodney's ass'.


	6. Six

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters etc.

…..

Having slept little the night before, Gail napped for most of the flight back to Toronto. As soon as they had taken their seats on the plane, Frankie turned to her and said 'So how was the make-up sex?'

Gail rolled her eyes and said 'Not sharing Frankie'.

'That bad, huh?'

'No, I just wouldn't want to make you feel inadequate', said Gail, closing her eyes to put a stop to the conversation, 'Wake me up when we land'.

She and Frankie had never talked about the sex they had had with other people. For all her boasting about giving women the best sex of their lives, Frankie wasn't a kiss and tell type, and didn't press Gail for details of her sex life for which Gail was grateful. So she wasn't about to start divulging anything to Frankie now, especially about Holly.

….…

Chloe was waiting to collect them at the airport. Gail had told her not to bother but she had insisted and who was Gail to argue. At least it saved them from having to wait in line for a taxi.

Chloe eyed Gail with concern. 'You look exhausted. Trouble sleeping?'

Gail shrugged noncommittally and then Chloe shrieked 'Oh, you totally had conference sex, didn't you'.

Gail rolled her eyes. 'You might want to say that a bit louder Price, I don't think that guy over in the corner heard'.

Frankie was standing just behind Gail, and she mouthed to Chloe, 'With Holly'.

'With Holly', Chloe shrieked again. 'Oh, my god Gail, that's.' Her excited expression reverted to one of concern, 'that's good right?'

'Yeah, yeah', said Gail, giving nothing away, but turning to glare at Frankie.

'I mean you're not going to be all broken hearted again. You were so sad after Holly left. I know you thought we didn't notice. No offence Frankie, but those two were kind of meant for each other. Holly made Gail happy, can you believe it, and she wasn't so cranky with everyone. Oh my god, Gail you're not moving to San Francisco, are you?'

'Muppet', said Frankie, 'Shut up. Now lets get our bags and get out of here'. Much as she was enjoying seeing Chloe torment Gail, her perkiness was starting to grate.

...

On the way home in the car, Chloe couldn't help but quiz Gail. She barely waited for an answer from Gail before excitedly firing yet another question at her, undeterred by Gail's evasive replies. Was it just a one-night stand? I mean, she totally understood, sometimes you just had to have that one last time with an ex, unfinished business and everything, or were she and Holly together? Was it weird seeing her after so long? Had Holly changed? How was she? Did she miss Toronto? Had she asked about 15? What about San Francisco? Did she seem happy –probably not, Chloe decided, answering her own question out loud, because Gail was here in Toronto and not there.

Chloe's incessant questioning was giving Gail a headache. It also put her in an awkward position. Holly's promotion had not yet been announced and until then Gail couldn't tell either Chloe or Frankie that the doctor was returning to Toronto.

Finally, in an effort to stop Chloe talking, Gail said 'Princess, we want to be together. We are working on it. That's all you're getting now'. She raised her hand in a stop gesture as Chloe was about to interrupt, 'and if you keep prying, when there is something to tell, you will be the last to know'.

'Thank Christ for that', Frankie said from the backseat, 'don't you ever come up for air, muppet'.

'Gee, I thought Gail had no filter', said Chloe sweetly, looking in the rearview mirror at Frankie, 'but you make her look like the Queen of tact, Frankie'.

'Chloe, don't encourage her', groaned Gail, who knew Frankie wore her brusqueness like a badge of honor.

….

Later that night, Gail debated whether she should call Holly. The flight from Chicago to San Francisco was about three hours longer than the one to Toronto, but Gail figured the doctor would be home by now and it would be around seven in the evening there.

When Holly first left, Gail used to calculate the time in San Francisco and speculate about what Holly would be doing. That was until she realized it only made her miss Holly more. Gail had decided then that she had no right to imagine Holly's life because she was no longer a part of it. That realization left her feeling so desolate she resolved to stop thinking about Holly. For the most part it worked, but sometimes thoughts of Holly would catch her off-guard and leave her almost winded with the physical ache of her absence.

And now, Gail thought, Holly had chosen her. Holly didn't want to shape her into some blander, less acerbic version of herself. She didn't see Gail as cold and unfeeling and she wasn't scared off by her snark. With a small sense of wonder, Gail realized that Holly actually saw who she was and still wanted to be with her. It was big and novel and Gail almost dared not think about it because no one had ever put her first.

Tracy had told Gail that everyone deserved to be happy, even her, but as everything she cared about was stripped away from her – Holly, Steve, then Sophie and even her parents - Gail became convinced happiness, true bursting with it happiness, wasn't something she was allowed. Maybe, Gail thought, it was because she was an imperfect Peck or because she couldn't be bothered with most people, or someone in the cosmos wanted to screw with her, or maybe it was just because when a good thing happened to her she couldn't help but sabotage it. Now, however, she felt like she was standing on the brink of happiness and she was determined not to jeopardize it.

Which left her with a dilemma. Should she call Holly or would it seem clingy and desperate. After all they only saw each other this morning, and even though Holly said she wanted to be with Gail, and Gail said they should date, in the rush to leave Chicago they hadn't settled on what they were to each other.

After Frankie had left her hotel room, Holly had followed soon after. Leaving though with a long lingering kiss that had Gail trying to pull her back onto the bed and Holly resisting, reminding her they each had a plane to catch. Then it was a flurry of packing and showering and checking out and piling into the car for the airport.

Frankie took the front seat, and Gail found herself in the back sandwiched between Holly and Girl-cop. She noticed that Girl-cop kept looking furtively at the two of them. That first night, even before they reached the restaurant, she'd detected that the young officer had a major crush on Holly and that Holly was doing her best to ignore it. Surely, Gail thought, Girl-cop had figured out that there was something going on between the two of them.

As if on cue, Holly took Gail's hand and entwined their fingers and smiled at her goofily. Girl-cops' eyes widened slightly. Gail couldn't help it, she leaned in and kissed Holly lightly on the lips, then as Holly's smile widened, she leaned in again, this time drawing out the kiss, savoring the feel of Holly's lips against her own.

'Keep it PG', Frankie piped up from the front seat and Gail rolled her eyes.

Once they arrived at the airport they had to part as their departure gates were literally on opposite sides of the building. Holly held Gail tightly and murmured in her ear, 'Come to San Francisco, before I leave. I can't wait six weeks to see you again'.

Gail had said okay and kissed her gently, trying to ignore the wrench of leaving, before Frankie interrupted to say their plane was about to board.

Chloe would know if she should call Holly, Gail decided, but she didn't want to tell Chloe everything, not yet anyway. It wasn't just because Holly's appointment wasn't official, but Gail felt like she wanted to hold close what she and Holly had shared in Chicago for a little while longer, even if Frankie had let the proverbial cat out of the bag.

Eventually she decided to send Holly a text, but kept it light. In the car to the airport, she had had the foresight to put her contact in Holly's cellphone and call herself to get Holly's number.

**Hottest Detective: You'd help me dispose of a body, wouldn't you?**

**Doctor Nerd: Context?**

**Hottest Detective: Frankie wanted details about the sex we had.**

**Doctor Nerd: In that case, can you wait til I get to Toronto?**

**Hottest Detective: Not sure I can put up with Frankie for another six weeks.**

Holly didn't respond to that, but a moment later Gail's phone rang. 'I wish I was there now', Holly breathed when Gail picked up.

'To get rid of Frankie?'

'Actually I can think of far better things to do in Toronto than waste my time on Frankie', Holly's voice had become low and suggestive.

'Catch up with Rachael and Botched Boob-job?'

'Gail', Holly drew out her name, and Gail wasn't sure if she was being chided for having a dig at Lisa or deliberately ignoring what, or more accurately who, Holly would actually like to be doing in Toronto.

'Don't forget we're planning on taking this slow', Gail said.

'Yeah, how serious are you about that?'

'Bit desperate for sex, Holly', Gail teased.

'Well, I haven't actually had a lot of it in the past two years. I think you ruined me for everyone else'.

'Yeah', said Gail, conscious they hadn't really talked about whether Holly had had relationships in the past two years beyond Holly saying she had dated a few women. She tried to suppress the feeling of jealousy provoked by the thought of Holly sleeping with someone else.

'Where those American lesbians not up to scratch'.

Holly snorted. 'I met quite a few very nice women, but Gail I don't think I ever got over you'.

Holly's words reminded Gail of that time in the interrogation room before Holly left for San Francisco when the doctor said she and her 'someone else' had broken up because she wasn't over Gail. It occurred to Gail that she had never really found out about that particularly interlude.

'That woman you dated here in Toronto. The one after me. Did you have sex with her?'

'Gail', again Holly drew out her name, and Gail wasn't sure whether it was in exasperation or a warning not to pursue this topic. 'We only had a couple of dates'.

'So, did you have sex on one of those dates?' Gail wasn't sure why she was pushing Holly, but for some reason it was important for her to know.

'Yes', Holly sighed, 'the very last one. I told you I could be impulsive. I was hurting and I thought it might help me forget you, which was stupid, and the sex wasn't great, and I left straight after, and in the morning she called and told me I wasn't over my ex'.

'Oh', said Gail quietly. She realized she hadn't actually needed to know that, and now that she did she felt a deep regret that it was her behavior, her insecurities and fears, that had led Holly to do that. 'I'm sorry'.

'It was my decision to sleep with her, Gail', Holly said, 'but you need to promise me that if you ever doubt how I feel about you, that I want to be with you, don't climb up that tree. You need to talk to me first and you can't ignore my texts or my calls and you need to know this, I'm not letting you go again, not without a fight'.

"Seems like we might be stuck with each other', said Gail, cradling the phone against her ear, a huge smile breaking across her face. So this, she thought giddily, is happiness.

…..

Three nights later she and Frankie got the call to attend a suspected arson, apparently an ex-girlfriend bent on revenge. They were working the second shift and it was close to 10pm so they were due to knock off in just over an hour. Frankie was less than impressed. She wanted to go dancing and had been trying to persuade Gail to come with her. The address was for an apartment in Yorkville, home to some of the most expensive condos in Toronto.

The building was 55 stories of glass and steel and Gail guessed you wouldn't get an apartment here for under a million. As they pulled up they could see lights flashing from a couple of cruisers and two fire engines. A crowd had gathered on the sidewalk but a security guard was keeping them at a reasonable distance from the entrance to the condo.

She and Frankie flashed their badges and made their way into the lobby, where the building manager was waiting for them. He introduced himself as Phil Bishop. A non-descript kind of guy in his mid forties, there was nothing remarkable about him except the worried expression on his face. Hiding something, wondered Gail. He ushered them into an elevator while muttering, 'Terrible business, terrible'.

The elevator took them to the top floor. A penthouse apartment, thought Gail, realizing she needed to revise her estimate of its worth. She and Frankie nodded at the rookie stationed outside the front door. Officer Miller or was it Mailer, Gail couldn't quite recall.

As they entered the penthouse, Gail was struck by the acrid smell of smoke. The damage from the fire was not immediately obvious. The hose monkeys had left tracks on the carpet and the carpet itself was soggy from their efforts to extinguish the fire. The apartment was expensively but tastefully furnished and included a number of what looked to be original artworks. Floor to ceiling windows and a wrap around balcony gave panoramic views of the city.

Officer Moore was standing outside the master bedroom. 'Detectives, uh', he said, 'I'm glad they sent you two. I asked for you'.

'Missed us, did you Gerald', Frankie said. 'Geez' she continued as she surveyed the bedroom.

The walls were blackened, the paint blistering in some sections from the intensity of the fire, and the furnishings, including what was once a king-sized bed, were burnt almost beyond recognition. This would be one hell of an insurance claim, thought Gail. Two men in blue Tyvek suits were carefully examining the room. Gail recognized them as the fire investigators who came to 15 after the bombing. Mike and Brody, she remembered.

'This guy must have really done a number on the girlfriend', Frankie said.

'Umm, that's the thing, Detective Anderson, it's two women. I mean it's not a guy. The owner of the apartment is a woman and so is her girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend'.

He trailed off as Frankie regarded him with narrowed eyes.

'We don't do lesbian drama', she said pointing between herself and Gail.

'Whhat', stuttered Officer Moore.

'I said we're not interested in lesbian drama'.

'She's just messing with you, Duncan', Gail said, feeling a little sorry for the officer. If this involved two women, then he did the right thing calling them in. Some of those older male detectives were dinosaurs and, despite mandatory diversity training, couldn't be trusted to handle something like this sensitively.

'So I'm guessing this wasn't an accident', Gail said, leaning in the bedroom door to address the fire investigators.

'Yup. Looks like a huge amount of accelerant was poured over the bed, as well as the walls and across the floor, and then it was lit. It's a wonder the arsonist didn't go up as well,' said Mike, 'We'll know more once we run some tests'.

'The smoke detectors were disabled too', said Brody, 'whoever did this meant business'.

Gail nodded and turned to Duncan. 'Do we know how the ex-girlfriend got access?'

Behind Gail, the building manager coughed. 'Umm. I let her in. I was on reception. I mean she had a keycard so I assumed Dr Gordon, that's the owner, had given her the card so I didn't stop her'.

Ah, thought Gail, that explained why he looked so worried. 'So you knew she was Dr Gordon's ex-girlfriend?' she asked

'I'd seen them going in and out together a few times. I thought they were exes because I hadn't seen her for about six weeks. I said that to her, when she came in, and she said she'd been on holidays. But Dr Gordon's entertained some other ladies in that time, if you know what I mean'.

Gail narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't like this guy's tone. Building managers were supposed to keep an eye on things, but Bishop seemed to be taking an unhealthy interest in Dr Gordon. She exchanged a look with Frankie.

'So, do you know her name?' Frankie queried.

'Trish, I think. I never got her last name'

'Would you have any CCTV footage of her arriving?' Gail asked.

'Yes, the entrance way and lobby is under constant surveillance. I can get you that footage'.

'And the key card would have given her access to the building and the apartment', Frankie prodded.

Bishop nodded his head. 'It also activates the elevators'.

'How did Trish seem when she came in?' Gail asked.

'Calm. She seemed quite relaxed when I spoke to her. She was carrying a large backpack. I guess that's where she put the gas for the fire'.

'Dr Gordon was out?'

Bishop nodded. 'She came home about forty minutes after Trish left. She's the one who discovered the fire and called 911'.

'And where is she now?'

'In my office. She's with one of your officers. I thought it best to get her away from the, uh, scene'

…..

Bishop's office was just behind the reception area. A large glass panel gave a view both in and out of the office, which Gail thought wryly probably allowed him to snoop on residents like Dr Gordon.

As they got closer to the office, Gail glanced through the panel. She stopped dead, causing Frankie to almost run into her. A woman, about their age was seated in the office with her profile to them, but Gail could see enough of her to recognize who she was. The last time she saw Lisa, Gail was backing out of the Penny saying she'd rather tase herself in the eye than spend a minute longer with either her or Holly.

'Doctor Gordon is Lisa, Holly's friend', she hissed to Frankie.

'Botched boob job?' asked Frankie, regarding the woman in the office. 'She's hot'.

Gail rolled her eyes.

'Not appropriate', asked Frankie innocently.

'You think', Gail replied sarcastically, 'Come on, Mr Neighborhood Watch is getting impatient'. Gail inclined her head to indicate Bishop, who was standing at the office door waiting for them.

Lisa and the officer were seated at a small round table, Lisa with her back to the door. Someone had given her a cup of tea but it didn't look like she touched it. The officer got to her feet when Gail and Frankie entered the room.

'Ah, Officer Larson. Mr Bishop has some security footage for us. Could you give a hand with that'. Frankie didn't want the building manager hanging round while they interviewed the doctor, and she certainly didn't want either he or the young officer in the room if Lisa decided to bring up her last encounter with Gail.

Lisa now turned and if she was surprised to see Gail she didn't show it.

'Officer Peck', Lisa's tone was clipped, 'I hope you left your taser at home'.

Frankie smiled. This was going to be entertaining. Gail had told her about that night at the Penny, but where Gail raged at her own stupidity for believing, even for a moment, that Holly was just having fun and at her impulse to lash out so viciously, Frankie thought it one of the most hilarious break up stories she'd ever heard.

'Its detective now', said Gail. So Lisa wasn't going to make this easy. 'And this is Detective Anderson. Mind if we sit?'

Lisa nodded. As Gail took a seat opposite her, she noticed that despite her initial bravado, Lisa looked shaken. The detectives quickly established that Lisa had come home after drinks with colleagues and on entering her apartment noticed fire coming from the bedroom. She'd used her cellphone to call 911 and then tried to douse the blaze with a fire extinguisher from the kitchen, but the fire was already too out of control for it to make a difference. She then alerted the building manager, but by then the fire brigade had arrived.

Gail was impressed. Lisa had obviously kept a cool head.

'So, do you think you're ex girlfriend, Trish..?' Gail trailed off.

'Trish Crompton. We weren't really girlfriends. We were just having some fun. I put a stop to it when I realized she wanted more. I mean I thought it was the right thing to do, before she got hurt'.

At the mention of 'just having fun', Gail winced internally but managed to maintain her composure.

'Do you think Trish was capable of this?' Gail asked.

Lisa faltered for a moment. Gail could tell she was debating what to say.

'Umm, she had been leaving some threatening messages'.

'Did you keep them?' Frankie asked.

'I deleted them. They were vile, but she left one this morning that I kept'.

'Can we listen to it?' Gail asked gently.

Again Lisa faltered. 'It really is vile'. Nonetheless she pulled out her phone and played the message. Trish didn't sound angry, but rather her tone was low and mean and menacing and the threat was graphic and disturbing.

'How long has she been leaving these?' Gail asked.

'Since I broke it off'

'So six weeks. And how often?'

'It varied. I might go days without receiving one, and then she'd leave five or six on the same day'.

'And did you feel like it was escalating?' Frankie asked.

'Yes, I guess it was'.

'Dr Gordon, you should have contacted the police and made a complaint. This is serious harassment. You don't have to put up with that, and any escalation is not a good sign', Gail said sympathetically.

Lisa looked down at her hands and then back up at Gail. 'This doesn't happen to people like me. I thought if I ignored it, she would stop', she said quietly.

While Lisa's statement might sound arrogant, Gail realized she was ashamed. 'Li, I mean Dr Gordon, unfortunately this can happen to anyone, regardless of who you are, and I'm sure you know this is not your fault, you did not ask for this to happen'.

'Yeah, well maybe if I treated her better'.

'It sill does not excuse this behavior', Gail said firmly. 'I would advise that you immediately take a restraining order out on her. We'll send some officers round to Trish's address to see if we can pick her up. Meantime, do you have somewhere you can stay tonight'.

Lisa shook her head and Gail saw that she'd started to shake. 'No, Rachel's out of town'.

'Any other friends who could put you up?'

Lisa shook her head again and Gail realized that aside from Rachael and Holly, Lisa obviously didn't have any close friends.

'A hotel' she suggested.

'I'm not sure I'd feel safe'.

A tear leaked out of the corner of Lisa's eye and Gail recognized that the shock was starting to take hold. Without really thinking, she said 'you can stay at my place. I have a spare room'.

This time Lisa did look surprised. 'Why?' was all she said.

'Holly would never forgive me if I didn't make sure you were okay', Gail shrugged, trying to ignore the look of incredulity on Frankie's face.

'You know it won't get her back', said Lisa, suddenly back to her acerbic self. 'She loves it in San Francisco'.

'Yeah, yeah', said Gail, 'Do you want a room for the night or not'.

….

Gail slept in late the following morning and was woken by a call from Holly.

'So', Holly began without even saying hello, 'that will be two bodies I have to help you dispose of when I get to Toronto'.

'Lisa told you', Gail sighed.

'Rang me first thing this morning. I'm not sure which of us is more perplexed by your behavior, Gail. I mean are you completely crazy, letting Lisa stay?'

'Well, you did call me insane once'.


	7. Seven

Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….

…...

Coming downstairs, Gail found Lisa seated at the kitchen table. She was dressed in the t-shirt and sweat pants Gail had given her to wear the night before and obviously hadn't slept much. Which, Gail reflected, was understandable when your unhinged ex girlfriend torched your bedroom.

After settling Lisa at Gail's house, Gail and Frankie had headed back to the station where they ran a check on Trish. Turned out she had two priors for assaulting a former girlfriend who, after Trish hit her the second time, had taken out a restraining order. Trish had also undergone a court mandated anger management course that clearly hadn't made any difference to her behavior.

'Coffee', Gail offered.

Lisa regarded her coolly. Gone was the vulnerability of last night and in its place was an enmity that Gail realized she should have anticipated. On the phone, Holly had told Gail not to take Lisa in for her sake, clearly worried that the arrangement would not end well.

'She's difficult', Holly had said.

'You think I don't know that', Gail had replied incredulously

'She doesn't like to seem vulnerable and she doesn't like to ask for help'.

'Its okay Holly, I can handle Lisa'. Gail could tell that Lisa put up a brittle front, and she certainly didn't expect any thanks from boob-job. With a start she recognized something of herself in both Holly's description of Lisa and her own impression of the woman.

'Honey, 30 minutes after you first met her you hightailed it out the door saying you'd rather tase yourself in the eye'.

Gail exhaled loudly. She wished now, just as she wished a thousand times before, that she could take that moment in the Penny back, could unsay those words and erase the memory of Holly's face, bewildered at first and then crushed.

If Gail had been asked to pinpoint the start of when things started to unravel it would be that moment. And while she knew she wasn't to blame for Steve being corrupt or for the loss of Sophie, it was almost as if that night Gail had kick started her own free fall. She sometimes wondered whether things would have turned out differently if she stayed and listened to Holly instead of lashing out and then climbing that tree.

'Holly now is perhaps not the best time to talk about that'. Gail could hear the whine in her voice.

'We need to sometime,' Holly said.

They hadn't talked about it in the two weeks before Holly left for San Francisco. There seemed to be no point. Instead they had spent most of the time fucking and trying to avoid Lisa and Rachael, who were determined to see as much as Holly as they could before her move and would drop by her townhouse unannounced. In the end Holly had paid for the removal company to pack up her belongings and she and Gail had spent a lot of time holed up at the frat house, which had its own challenges when it came to dodging Dov and Chris.

Now, when Gail didn't immediately respond, it occurred to Holly that it was unfair to bring up that night. After all Gail had taken in Lisa without hesitation, her instinct to protect overwhelming the resentment she surely must harbor towards the woman. Gail had nothing to gain from helping Lisa, who no doubt would be nonplussed. For her part, Holly didn't need to be convinced that Gail had a big heart, no matter how much Gail downplayed her grander or better reflexes and despite her fast held belief that most people thought her cold and unfeeling.

What had taken Holly some time to figure out was that Gail ran that night not because she was offended by Lisa's snobbery or actually believed Holly shared those sentiments. Holly knew for a fact Gail had been described as far worse and to her face. No, she ran because she thought Holly saw her as a distraction and this meant Holly was just like all the others who never considered Gail girlfriend material.

What Gail had failed to see, but what Lisa had spotted immediately, was how smitten Holly was. Lisa was immediately suspicious of the until recently straight girl. She knew that despite her formidable intellect, Holly was often a lousy judge of character, and had in the past thrown herself into relationships only to have her heart quickly broken. So Lisa did her best to protect Holly in the only way she knew how by being caustic and patronizing about Gail and by not so subtly making it clear that Gail did not belong in their circle. Holly saw what Lisa was trying to do and thought the easiest way to handle it was to brush her off, not imagining for a moment that Gail would overhear her.

When Gail didn't return her phone calls or answer her texts, Holly started to wonder if she had meant nothing to Gail and if she was indeed just a straight girl's experiment. As days turned into a week of ignored texts, Holly became certain of it. In any case, she reasoned she didn't need Gail's emotional baggage –her insecurities and inability to trust. Instead she persuaded herself that she deserved a grown-up relationship, not one where people fled over a simple misunderstanding.

It wasn't until that day at the station, when she came to return the thumb and Gail said she was the most wonderful person she'd ever met, that Holly understood that Gail had run because she had fallen for Holly and was devastated to think Holly did not feel the same way. Holly had nearly crumbled. They had both been idiots, both miserable to be without the other. By then she thought it was too late to repair the damage and she'd had two dates with someone else who was uncomplicated and fun and she convinced herself that was what she wanted.

Now, on the other end of the phone, Gail took a deep breath.

'I was partnered with Dov that day and he kept asking questions about us and really I didn't mind answering him. I mean, normally I don't share that stuff. And the more I talked to him the more I realized I'd never felt that way about anyone else, that I'd fallen for you. And then that night you told Lisa you were just having fun'.

'Oh, honey. I was never just having fun', Holly said softly.

'I realize that now. I mean if you want to have fun with someone, I'm not exactly people's first choice. I'm the girl everyone fools around with and then leaves. When I overheard you I decided to run before you did the leaving'.

Gail knew she should have realized it when Holly came rushing to the station when Ford was on the loose, her concern for Gail plain, or when she gently steered Gail through her freak-out and hair massacre. God, if Holly was going to bail that surely would have been the time. But she didn't. She just asked Gail to meet her two closest friends and that alone should have told Gail that Holly was all in.

'Gail', Holly said firmly, 'you are my first choice. Always. If you'd just talked to me, I could have explained. Sometimes it's just easier to ignore Lisa, especially when she's being an elitist bitch. I stupidly thought it was obvious how I felt about you'.

In fact, Holly had been doing her best to play down her feelings, worried she'd scare Gail away.

Gail's laugh sounded bitter. 'I was too hurt to talk to you', she said softly.

Holly knew that for someone like Gail, who guarded her feelings so closely and who had been let down so often by the people who were supposed to love her including, Holly had to admit, herself, this was a big admission.

'What would you have done if I'd said yes that day in the lab when you asked me for a drink, even though you were trying to avoid me. Did you want to get back together or did you think we could be friends like you are with all your exes'.

Gail couldn't honestly say what her intentions were. Up until then she had managed to avoid the morgue for weeks, which meant she had also avoided seeing Holly. She hadn't planned on asking Holly for a drink but that day in the morgue she was immediately drawn to her despite the hostility that seemed to radiate off the doctor.

Gail couldn't help but stand closer than she should and had to restrain herself from reaching out to touch Holly. She sensed that beneath the hostility Holly was hurting deeply and she cursed herself for being the cause. Worse still, she realized in that moment how stupid she had been to give up the one person she knew she could love and who it now seemed might have loved her back.

'I didn't have a plan, Holly. It was kind of spontaneous. But you know, being just friends was never an option for me'.

In fact Holly knew that the moment she told Gail she was seeing someone else. It was apparent in the hurt that flashed across Gail's face that she desperately tried to mask, and in the way she propelled herself out of the office, and in the strangled sound she made as she yelled for Angie as if holding in a sob. Holly wished she were in Toronto now and could hold Gail close and tell her how even then when she was trying to move on she couldn't shake the feeling that Gail was it for her.

'No, it was never an option', she said instead.

They had ended the conversation with Holly asking Gail to promise not to take Lisa's jibes personally and telling Gail she was a good person to which Gail had replied 'yeah, yeah, anyone would do the same in the circumstances'.

'And Gail', Holly said just before hanging up, 'You know how you hate people'.

' Most people', said Gail, not sure where Holly was going with this.

'Well, I can't tell you how lucky I feel that you chose me', Holly said.

It never ceased to amaze Gail how Holly always seemed to know the right thing to say to her. Well, apart from that night at the Penny and Gail hadn't given her a chance to explain so that probably didn't count anyway. Her words suffused Gail with a feeling so huge she almost found herself telling Holly she loved her, but somehow she wasn't quite ready or brave enough to say that yet.

Now in her kitchen, Gail began to prepare a coffee for her guest. Lisa had been surprised that Gail had a real espresso machine and even grinded her own beans, tamping the coffee into the little metal basket like a seasoned barista. She wouldn't have picked Gail for someone who took her coffee so seriously or who would have the patience to trouble over it. In fact, while Lisa wouldn't admit it, she was impressed by Gail's home.

A two story, semi-detached in Cabbage town, it was built in the Victorian era but Gail had renovated the back of the house so a passage led from the living room to a large open-plan kitchen with modern appliances, a good-sized table with chairs and a sitting area furnished with a sofa and a comfortable looking arm chair. Double glass doors opened onto a backyard that was bigger than normal for the area. There were two bedrooms on the second story and a third large bedroom tucked into the attic space with a small rooftop patio. This was were Gail slept and she would sometimes drolly comment that she was the crazy woman in the attic

Once a slum, Cabbagetown had started to be gentrified in the late 70's and real estate here wasn't cheap. As they had pulled up in front of the house the night before, Lisa had said 'Nice. You on the take or something Peck'.

Gail had looked at her sharply, wondering if Lisa knew about Steve and was having a dig. However it was unlikely Lisa was aware of his involvement in the corruption scandal, the Peck influence still powerful enough to keep Steve out of the spotlight and the media.

'Inheritance', was all she said. She liked living in Cabbagetown with its diverse mix of people. Professionals rubbed shoulders with residents from public housing, there were young families, as well as artists of all types and students and academics from the nearby University of Toronto and it was home to quite a large Queer community. Despite her oft stated claim that she hated people, Gail was drawn to the strong sense of community in the neighborhood.

She could never have hoped to live there on a cop's salary, but her maternal grandmother, Rose, decided to leave everything to her after Steve went to prison. Rose hadn't ever much liked the Pecks. She thought them too full of their own self-importance and was alarmed by their single-minded ambition and their rigid belief that to be a Peck in Toronto meant being a cop.

Rose was less than happy when Elaine agreed to marry Bill and even less impressed when Elaine began to groom her children to be the next generation of policing Pecks. Where Steve was amiable and outgoing and seemed not to be weighed down by his parent's expectations, Gail was sensitive and too smart to unthinkingly conform. This alone was enough to make her Rose's favorite, but where Rose admired Gail's individuality, Bill and Elaine saw her as willful and tried to bully and coerce her into being their kind of Peck.

Rose watched as Gail started to believe she was never good enough, always second to Steve the golden child, and how this began to define her and became a pattern that repeated in her relationships in her adult life. Rose saw too how Gail became closed off, using sarcasm and even spite as a defense against the feeling of never measuring up and to mask her own disappointment that nobody - her family, her friends, the people she dated - seemed to know who she really was.

After her husband died, Rose had remarried and moved to Vancouver so Gail had seen little of her in the past ten years but had always sensed that Rose was in her corner. The inheritance came as a surprise. When Elaine had raged to mother about Gail's failure to stand up for Steve in court, to cover for his weakness and wrongdoing, Rose had immediately redrawn her will.

She wasn't overly wealthy but Rose left Gail enough to buy a house. Gail had decided after years of living with Dov and Chris, an arrangement that was only ever meant to be temporary, that she needed to make her own home. While she did her best to suppress such thoughts, sometimes she imagined what it might have been like living here with Sophie and even Holly. Of course she explained none of this to Lisa, who was still regarding her with some hostility, even after Gail placed a coffee in front of her.

'She turned down Paris', Lisa said abruptly.

'Ah, so Holly told you about the job offer here?'

'Yes and coming back to you'. Lisa's tone was bitter. 'That job in Paris is at one of the most internationally prestigious forensic institutes.

'You always thought I'd bring Holly down'. Gail's voice was quiet and even.

'No', said Lisa, 'I thought you'd break her heart and I was right'.

Gail paused, not sure how to respond. It was true. She had broken Holly's heart but Holly had broken hers and Lisa surely had to take some blame. Although if she were really honest, Gail realized, she would have eventually found some other excuse to run because no matter how much Holly showed it she could never believe she was enough, that Holly wouldn't work out how damaged she was, how unsuited to be a girlfriend, and would find someone better and less complicated and would leave. Good thing self-worth was something she and her therapist were working on, Gail thought wryly.

'I suppose you think it was my fault', Lisa said.

'You were just trying to protect Holly', Gail said, suddenly understanding Lisa's behavior that night and her present hostility. 'I'm not going to do that again. I'm not going to run'.

Lisa eyed her skeptically. 'You know she dated a doctor, Francine, in San Francisco. I think it could have been quite serious, but they put it on hold while Francine took a year out to work with Doctors without Borders in Africa. She's due back soon'.

No Holly hadn't told her about Francine and Gail did her best to disguise the sharp stab of jealousy on hearing about the doctor. She knew Lisa was trying to provoke her and for Holly's sake decided not to react.

'Yet, Holly is moving back here' Gail couldn't help saying. 'Although, she did decide that before anything happened between us at the conference. She was coming back because she missed Toronto and she missed you and Rachel', Gail then conceded.

'No, she was always coming back for you', Lisa said firmly, 'It has always been you'.

Strangely Gail could hear no malice in Lisa's voice and she realized they had reached some sort of détente.

…

An hour later Gail found herself back at the station. Lisa had cancelled her appointments for the day. At Lisa's request Gail had dropped her on Bloor Street West, which was Toronto's answer to New York's Fifth Avenue, to buy some new clothes seeing as her entire wardrobe had been destroyed in the fire. Rachel was out of town for another four days and Gail, wondering whether she was indeed insane, offered to let Lisa stay until her friend's return.

As Gail walked into the station, she spotted Chloe on the desk.

'How is our guest?' Chloe asked brightly.

'Peevish' was Gail's reply.

'Sort of like you on a good day', Chloe giggled.

Gail shook her head. 'Why do all the strays I take in think the best way to repay me is by being obnoxious?'

Chloe just smiled sweetly in response. 'I do have some good news. McNally and her rookie just picked up Trish Crompton. They've put her in interview room one. Frankie is waiting for you to start.

Trish Crompton was attractive in a showy sort of way. Her hair was dyed a bright red, which contrasted with her almost translucent skin and set off her green eyes. She was expensively dressed. Clearly someone in Lisa's league, Gail thought a little bitterly. Trish admitted to being in Lisa's apartment but vehemently denied setting it on fire. She had gained entry using a keycard Lisa had given her some weeks ago.

'So what time did you get to the apartment?' Frankie asked.

'Just after 8.30 pm and I left about 10 minutes later'.

Gail and Frankie exchanged looks. Ten minutes was not enough time to set the fire.

'Did anyone see you come and go?' Gail asked.

'Just that creepy building manager'.

'And why did you go into the apartment'.

'I wanted to leave some things for Lisa'.

'Things?' Frankie queried.

'Lingerie. She gave it to me when we were together. I didn't want it anymore'.

'Where did you leave it, once you got in the apartment?' Gail asked.

'In her bedroom, on the bed'.

'So I don't get it, said Frankie, 'in the morning you leave a message for Dr Gordon threatening to disfigure her and then you waltz into her apartment to leave lingerie that evening, and not long after that same apartment is set on fire. Can you see how its hard for us not to think those things are related'.

'I swear, I didn't do it. I was only there for 10 minutes. Look I can be a bitch but I'm no arsonist. Have you checked out Lisa's other ex girlfriends. There's quite a list'.

'So where did you go afterwards. Once you left the apartment', Gail asked, ignoring Trish's jibe.

'Wrong Bar'. Trish named a gay club on Queen Street West that both Frankie and Gail were familiar with.

'Can anyone corroborate that'

'The bar staff. Megan, the woman I went home with. I was coming back from her place when your officers picked me up outside my house'.

'So', Gail said, 'Are the clothes you're wearing the same as the ones you had on when you were in Dr Gordon's apartment?'

Trish gave her a quizzical look, but nodded 'Yeah'.

'We'll need to test those. I'll get an officer in here to take you to get changed'.

'What if I refuse?'

'If you're telling the truth, its the fastest way of clearing you', Frankie said. 'If you started that fire there will be traces all over your clothes'.

Once outside the interrogation room, Frankie turned to Gail.

'Do you think she's telling the truth?' In the time that she had worked with Gail, Frankie had come to trust her instincts.

'Yeah, I mean there is something very off about her, but I believe her when she says she's no arsonist'.

'We need to check the CCTV footage. See if she did leave when she says she did'.

'Duncan's looking through the footage now'.

The CCTV footage confirmed that Trish had entered the condo at the time she and the building manager claimed and was indeed wearing the same clothes. What was strange though was that after Trish came through the front entrance the footage went blank as if someone had erased the tape.

'Did you get a weird vibe from the building manager?' Gail asked Frankie.

'Yeah, he did seem a bit familiar, like he knew too much about Lisa's business. Though he could just be nosy'.

Frankie's phone ringing interrupted the conversation. Glancing down at the name on the screen, she saw it was Mike, one of the fire investigators.

'Thought you'd be interested to know, we found a camera concealed in the ceiling just above the bed', Mike said, 'It was partially burnt but you might want to check with the owner to see if they put it there'.

After Mike rang off, Frankie relayed the information to Gail, who asked 'You thinking Phil, the building manager?'

'Could be' said Frankie.

Gail agreed to speak to Lisa while Frankie ran a background check on Phil Bishop. Gail found Lisa back at her house surrounded by a mountain of shopping bags, most from expensive boutiques. Lisa was surprised when Gail asked about the camera.

'God, you don't think Trish put it there?'

'We're not sure', Gail answered cautiously, 'Have you had much to do with Phil Bishop, the building manager?'

'Shit, you think it's him. That's depraved'. Lisa sounded both outraged and, Gail sensed, a little hysterical.

'We are just trying to rule things out', Gail answered calmly. She could see Lisa was disturbed and rightly so.

'He is strange, but I never took much notice of him. I don't understand. What, is he a stalker? I mean I've got Trish threatening me. I should have seen she was unbalanced. I'm a smart woman and I didn't pick up on that and I didn't notice anything about him either'.

'Lisa, sometimes people hide the crazy well'.

'But what is it about me that would attract this?' Lisa asked wretchedly.

'Lisa, as I said last night, this is not your fault. This kind of behavior is not acceptable. People who act like this are in the wrong not you.'

Before she could continue, a loud knocking on the door interrupted Gail. She found Frankie on the doorstep.

'Stupid chump', she said, 'He brought the camera with his credit card, oh and forensics found nothing on Trish's clothes. Want come and make an arrest?'

When they showed up again at Lisa's apartment building, Bishop seemed to be expecting them. Back at the station, when Frankie showed him the credit card statement listing the purchase of the camera, he readily admitted that he'd been secretly filming Lisa.

'Why?' asked Gail, even though she could guess the answer. The guy was clearly a pervert and she felt sick for Lisa that her privacy had been so violated.

'All those fucking woman she brought home', Bishop answered, the hate in his voice palpable, 'she just needed a real man'.

….

It was some hours later, after she and Frankie had charged Bishop and handed him over to booking, that Oliver called Gail into his office. Having cleared the case so quickly, Gail thought this might be a good time to ask for some days off so she could visit Holly.

'Good result my petulant Peck,' Oliver said. 'Although I hear you might not be so petulant after your visit to Chicago'.

Gail rolled her eyes. Gossip did spread like herpes in this place. It had to be either Frankie or Chloe and she began to imagine ways to make them pay.

'And', continued Oliver smiling, 'A little birdie tells me that an esteemed pathologist is to return to our shores very soon. And that is indeed good news'.

Of course Oliver would know, thought Gail. He always seemed to have an ear to the ground. She unsuccessfully tried to suppress a smile.

'Actually, I was wondering if I could take some time, you know, to go to San Francisco'.

'Ah', said Oliver, 'the thing is you've been requested for an undercover op in Vancouver".

'What, who requested me?' Gail was puzzled.

'Nick. You are to be his drug-dealing ex-girlfriend. He's in with a syndicate up there but he's having trouble working out the supply chain. He figured if you come in as a buyer you might have a better chance of getting that information'.

'Why me?' Gail hated going undercover and was less than thrilled at the prospect of working with Nick.

'They think the syndicate might have turned someone on the force in Vancouver. They need a fresh face from out of town. Nick said your good at undercover. He thought you wouldn't have trouble playing his ex'.

Gail rolled her eyes again.

'You can say no Gail', Oliver continued with a look of concern, 'Given how things went with Perick'.

'It's okay Ollie', Gail interrupted, 'I can't really say no, especially when the Pecks aren't exactly flavor of the month around here'.

'Ah, that could look bad', Oliver conceded, 'But the good news is that Nick thinks it will take two weeks at the most'.

'When do I start?'

'Four days. So if you want to see that delightful doctor of yours before you go, I'd suggest getting on the first flight to San Francisco tomorrow.'

…

Less than twenty-four hours later, Gail found herself standing outside Holly's apartment building. Holly had been caught up with a autopsy so Gail had taken the BART from the airport, figuring they would probably both arrive at Holly's at the same time. Now after Holly buzzed her in, she took the two flights of stairs to the second floor apartment, where she found a smiling Holly waiting at her open door.

Since Gail had seen her in Chicago, Holly had got new glasses. The frames were black and larger than her last pair and if Gail had thought Holly had the sexy librarian thing going for her before, this was that and some. Dropping her bag, she leaned in and kissed Holly like she hadn't seen her for years rather than a week.

Where's your bedroom?' Gail asked as she broke off the kiss.

'I thought we were supposed to be taking this slowly', Holly said, her expression bemused.

'You're not in Toronto yet, Holly' was Gail's reply, to which Holly gave her a lop-sided smile and pulled her into the apartment.


	8. Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters etc...

Two weeks had turned into four and then five and now Gail was seated across from Slade, second-in-command of one of Vancouver's most powerful drug cartels and she was no closer to finding out the identity of the cartel boss. Worse still, depending on how this conversation went, she may never know how the drugs were being shipped into Canada.

Slade was a wiry kind of guy. If he were a dog, Gail would have described him as a whippet, but where whippets tended to be docile and amiable, he was nervy and quick to anger. At the moment he was trying to out stare Gail, unmoved by her assurance that Nick was not ratting them out to the police. Gail knew if she couldn't convince him, suspicion would fall on her next. After all, Nick had introduced her as his ex-girlfriend who had the contacts to expand the cartel's business beyond Vancouver to Australia, where cocaine was selling for five times its street value in Canada. As Slade's gaze didn't waiver, Gail idly wondered why drug bosses never had regular names. She knew now was not the time to be pondering such things, but somehow it helped her withstand Slade's scrutiny without flinching.

So far this whole undercover mission had been a bust and if it was about to go pear-shaped then there was a good chance she would never get back to Toronto and the life she was daring to imagine she could make with Holly. Gail had promised to come back to San Francisco once the undercover assignment was done and help Holly pack up her apartment, but that wasn't going to happen now. Holly would have arrived back in Toronto two days ago. Gail mentally chided herself for letting her thoughts wander. She needed to stay focused.

Paranoia was high in the cartel. Their source in the Vancouver Police Department suspected that an undercover officer had infiltrated the cartel but hadn't been able to supply a name. Now, Gail had to figure out whether Slade really thought Nick was the undercover operative or was on a fishing expedition. Perhaps he was just trying to rule Nick out. After all, Nick had left Vancouver five days ago with Ricardo, one of Slade's lieutenants, to collect a large consignment of cocaine from Mexico, which Slade believed she had arranged to then smuggle into Australia.

She and Nick had a rough idea about how the drugs were being brought into Vancouver. Piecing together snippets Slade and other gang members had let slip, it seemed the drugs were brought up from Mexico in a fishing trawler, which anchored just off the coast. From here they were transferred to a speedboat to be brought to the mainland. Somehow though the speedboat was getting through without being detected by the Canadian Coast Guard.

It was the first time Nick had been trusted to make the journey. Undercover for seven months, Nick had made himself indispensable to Slade by taking charge of distributing drugs to local suppliers, but other than identifying Mexico as the source, Slade had remained tight-lipped about how the drugs were getting into the country. Gail's appearance had changed that. She told Slade that if she was going into business with him, she needed to know the supply chain was full proof.

Slade had taken a while to agree. Gail knew he was using the time to check her credentials. Juliette, who was leading the investigation, had been careful to craft a believable backstory for Gail, including a charge sheet with a string of arrests in her early twenties for possession and time in prison. Gail, the story went, had just returned from three years in Australia, where she'd worked for a local gang trafficking cocaine into the country.

'Nick is solid. Loyal. I relied on him when I was in Australia. There's no way he'd talk to the police. He's hated them ever since they wouldn't charge the driver who wiped out his parents in an accident when he was a teenager'.

Undercover it was more convincing if you incorporated some of your own life into that of your alias. Nick and Gail had agreed to stick with the story that he'd jilted her and they resumed contact several years later when she started dealing. Both had kept their first names but assumed new surnames. That way, because they knew each other so well, they were unlikely to slip up by calling one another by the wrong name, and if they happened to run into anyone who recognized them while with Slade or any of his gang, it wouldn't cause any suspicion if they were addressed as Gail or Nick.

Slade nodded slowly but didn't break eye contact. 'You knew him then?'

'Met him not long after. He left me at the altar when I was nineteen'.

At this Slade look surprised. 'So, why do business with him?

'Lousy boyfriend, good business partner', she shrugged. 'And he's not my type anymore'.

Slade raised his eyebrows, but he seemed to be satisfied with Gail's response. 'I had a feeling'. He looked Gail up and down slowly, appraisingly. 'What a waste'.

What a creep thought Gail. 'Waste for whom exactly', she challenged, but her tone was light.

Slade laughed. 'You might just be the boss's type. She likes them blonde and feisty'.

Ah, so the boss was a woman. This was new information. 'I don't mix business and pleasure, as a rule', she said.

'But rules were meant to be broken, Gail', said Slade, holding his hands out as if this were self-evident. 'And I think once you meet Miss Goddard, you may want to break a rule or two'.

Gail worked hard to keep her face impassive. A name now. Slade had let slip two clues about the boss's identity. It seemed too easy. Up until now he'd been very cagey about his boss and thinking back Gail realized he avoided using the gender specific pronoun when describing Miss Goddard, if that was her name or if she even existed. Gail wondered if this was some sort of a test or set-up, although she also knew that the bogus deal she was offering Slade promised serious money and he didn't want to risk that.

'Be ready. 10 pm tonight. I'll take you to Miss Goddard'.

As Gail rose to leave, Slade placed a grainy black-and–white photo on the desk. 'Do you know this chick?' he asked with seeming casualness, although Gail could detect an underlying sharpness to his tone.

Looking at the photo, she saw it was Juliette. 'No. Who is she?' Gail tried to sound irritated. Slade was still watching her face closely and she hoped she hadn't given any indication that she recognized Juliette.

'Police'.

'How do you know?'

'The guy we have in the VPD says she's running an operation targeting us'.

'Listen Slade, if the police are getting too close maybe we should lie low for a while. Call off Nick and Ricardo. I've spent time inside. I'm not going back there'.

By acting like she was getting cold feet, Gail hoped to shake off Slade's suspicions. After all, if the police were planning to bust the operation Slade was smart enough to know they'd want the shipment from Mexico to go ahead. However, having got this far, she figured Slade would be reluctant to pull the plug.

'No, I got word from Nick and Ricardo. They're bringing the shipment in tonight', Slade's voice was firm, indicating this was non-negotiable. 'I'll take care of her' he gestured to the photo. 'See you at 10. And Gail, wear something nice'.

….........................

Back at Nick's apartment, Gail made her way to the bathroom where she removed one of the tiles surrounding the bathtub and retrieved a cellphone. She couldn't risk phoning Juliette. If Slade thought Nick was working for the police, there was a good chance he would have bugged the apartment. Instead she sent a text to Juliette.

** S knows you're running op. Plans to 'take care of you'. VPD contact also suspects an uncover is working for S. S asked if it was Nick. I think I convinced him we're legit. S collecting me at 10pm to meet boss – called her Miss Goddard. Should I go? **

When she finished typing, she sat down on the bathroom floor with her back against the tiled bath. She felt sick. God she hated undercover. When she had arrived in Vancouver, Nick had assumed she be grateful that he singled her out for the job. It never ceased to amaze her how Nick, despite their history and how well they should have know each other, didn't get her most of the time.

'I thought you'd be relieved to be away from Toronto with all the shit going down with the Pecks', he'd said defensively.

'Nick I'm just getting my life back. I've made detective. I've got a house', Gail didn't tell Nick how hard she'd had to work to shake off the Peck stigma or how some people in the force still didn't trust her.

Nick had been surprised about the house though and even more amazed when he found out Gail was sharing it with Chloe. Why did everyone find it so implausible, she wondered. Although to be fair after leaving the Peck mansion, she'd lived in her car before Dov took her in. Chloe was a different matter. Why did people assume she hated her? Sure she was all sunshine and happiness, but Gail didn't think she gave her any more shit than she did most people.

'Chloe domesticated you' Nick had teased.

'You don't think I'm capable of doing that myself?'

'Ahh', Nick pretended to ponder for a moment, 'No'.

Which was why she didn't tell him about Holly. Not at first. She suspected Nick might still see her as being incapable of love or of being loved. Not the girlfriend type he had said before and she didn't now have the energy to tell him he was wrong, that yes she was never cut out to be his girlfriend, but with Holly it was different.

But after weeks of sharing the apartment, with little to do unless Slade summonsed them, Nick started talking about how happy he was with Juliette, and it was so genuine, not intended as it might have been in the past to wound Gail and make her feel inadequate, that she felt glad for him and eventually let slip about Holly.

Nick had beamed. 'Don't fuck it up, Gail'.

'Jesus, Nicholas why do you assume that's going to happen'.

Nick smirked and said 'Track record'. Gail responded by throwing a cushion across the room that hit the side of his head.

'You have surprisingly good aim for someone with noodle arms'. He smirked again.

'Ass', she said but without any bite. Despite all the crap they'd put each other through, she understood that when Nick told her not to fuck things up with Holly it was his way of showing that he did care.

'I'm glad though. You deserve to be happy, Gail', he smiled, unconsciously echoing the words Traci had said to Gail what seemed like years ago which had prompted her to call Holly and arrange their first 'non' date at the batting cages.

She didn't want to mess it up with Holly, not now. Already, it felt like they couldn't catch a break. They were barely back together when bam she was undercover putting their burgeoning relationship more or less on hold. Separated from Holly, it felt fragile and a little unreal, and try as she might Gail couldn't help but give into a little self-doubt. All they had had were promises to start again, well that and a lot of sex. God, there had even been phone sex the night before she left for undercover, and that was less than 24 hours after she'd seen Holly in San Francisco.

When Chloe picked her up from the airport, somehow knowing, even though Gail had never told her about Perick, that she hated taxis, she had once again fired questions at Gail. Had she been to Alcatraz, did she check out the Golden Gate Bridge, had she ridden on a cable car or visited Chinatown and how about Fisherman's Wharf? Did she see the container cranes in Oakland Port that were supposed to be the inspiration for the At-At Walkers in Star Wars? When Gail shook her head no to every question, Chloe finally said 'You two just had sex for two days straight, didn't you'.

'We ate out a couple of times as well', Gail had replied.

Chloe had looked at her sideways. 'Was there a double entendre in that comment?' and Gail had just smirked.

In fact she didn't know if it was still make-up sex or the uncertainty of undercover, and she had to admit Holly's new glasses were a definite turn-on, but for whatever reason they had spent most of the two days tangled up in each other. Holly hadn't voiced her fears, but Gail knew she was anxious about the undercover operation, and the way she touched Gail it was as if she were mapping every inch of her body, leaving an indelible imprint of herself on Gail as if to remind her of why she needed to come back.

Gail still felt a sense of wonder that Holly was willing to give her a second chance. Nick didn't need to tell her not to fuck it up. She'd done that already and spent the last two years regretting it. People she loved, or thought she loved, always seemed to leave, and that night at the Penny she stupidly convinced herself if she left first it wouldn't hurt so much. But it did. It felt worse than every other time, because normally she held a large part of herself in reserve, never letting people completely in, yet somehow, without Gail even noticing it, Holly had got past her defenses and into her heart.

'God, I have become such a sap', Gail said out loud and then laughed mirthlessly. Let Slade work that out if he was bugging the place. She just wanted this operation to be over and more than anything she wanted to be back in Toronto with Holly to reassure herself that what they had was real.

A moment later the phone pinged with an incoming text.

** Go ahead tonight. Everything ok. **

Everything okay. What did Juliette mean by that? She had to trust that the detective had a handle on this. Perhaps she was planning on putting a tail on Gail, although she only had a small team working on the op, so it was unlikely she could spare anyone.

Juliette and her superior were aware that someone fairly senior in the force was working for Slade and his boss. This meant the only way to bring down the cartel was to assemble a small team of trusted officers to run a covert operation, secret even from the top brass. Nick had been chosen to go undercover because he was new to Vancouver and so was unknown to the cartel and even most of his new colleagues in the VPD. Gail was a complete outsider so they didn't have to worry about her being recognized as police.

When she first arrived in Vancouver, she wondered what Juliette would think about working with Nick's ex. Especially after she'd been such a bitch to Juliette during Steve's trial. However, Juliette had acted with professionalism, and, Gail had to grudgingly admit, as if she had supreme confidence in Gail's ability to do the job required. She just hoped Juliette's faith wasn't misplaced, for all their sakes.

…...........................

Shaughnessy wasn't just the most expensive neighborhood in Vancouver; it was the most expensive in Canada. Mostly old money and grand old mansions on wide tree-lined avenues, Shaughnessy was home to the doyens of the city and, it appeared, one very wealthy drug lord. Slade had ushered Gail into the reception room of a large Tudor style residence, which she guessed must be worth at least five million. Standing at the end of the room were a man and woman in deep conversation.

As Slade and Gail approached, the woman, whom Gail assumed was Miss Goddard, turned to regard them. Slim and attractive, she was elegantly dressed in black slacks and a grey silk blouse and her hair was a striking auburn color that appeared to be natural. Gail guessed she was in her mid forties.

She held out her hand to Gail. 'Ah, Miss Peterson, we finally meet'. Her voice was husky and her handshake surprisingly firm. 'Please call me Lucia, and I can call you Gail'. The last was not so much a question as a statement. Gail nodded. 'And this', Lucia gestured to the man, 'is Superintendent Mitchell'.

Graham Mitchell. The cartel's man in the VPD. Crap, thought Gail, he was one of her parent's contemporaries and she'd met him once at one of her parent's parties when she was a teenager. It was during her Goth phase when she had dyed her long hair jet black and she'd only made a short obligatory appearance at the party where she was briefly introduced to Mitchell, so there was a chance he wouldn't recognize her. Her hair had been dyed blonde again for the operation and styled shorter, a little like the cut Holly had given her in the bathtub, so he may not connect her with the surly Goth from the Peck party. Schooling herself to remain composed, Gail held out her hand to Mitchell.

'A pleasure. I believe we have you to thank for much good work on our behalf'. Gail smiled.

'I do my best to help', Mitchell said, his tone urbane and charming, although his own smile was thin-lipped.

'Drinks', Lucia clapped her hands, 'I believe tequila is your poison, Gail, and whiskey for you Slade'.

Gail guessed Lucia learned of her drink preference from Slade, nonetheless it was unnerving that she knew such a small detail about her. As Lucia made her way over to the bar, Mitchell followed her, leaving Gail standing next to Slade. Gail stiffened. Slade didn't appear to have noticed anything was amiss. As Lucia poured the drinks, Mitchell spoke to her in a hushed tone, so quiet that Gail couldn't make out what he was saying to the woman.When he finished speaking, Lucia gave a quick nod and he turned to Slade.

'I need to borrow you for a moment. You'll excuse us Gail?' he said.

Gail nodded numbly. She wondered if she could make a break for it. She knew Slade was armed and imagined Mitchell would be too. There had been a guard at the gate of the property who she guessed was one of several. As the two men left the room, Lucia handed Gail a shot glass, and then indicating a low sofa said 'Come, sit with me'. Feeling like she had no choice, Gail did as she was instructed.

'Cheers', said Lucia tipping up her own shot glass, and Gail again felt like she had no choice but to follow suit, grateful at least that she could hold her liquor and that it would take more than one shot to cloud her judgment.

'You are very beautiful', Lucia said, moving so she was sitting uncomfortably close to Gail. She leaned in and cupped Gail's jaw in her hand, and then gazing at her intently said 'So striking. I do hope you're not our undercover spy'.

As Lucia spoke, Gail realized she was having trouble focusing. She felt dizzy and her vision had become blurry, her limbs suddenly so heavy it was an effort to hold the shot glass or even remain physically upright, let alone get up from the sofa. With a rising panic, she recognized she'd been drugged. Not again, she thought resignedly. Mitchell had clearly recognised her as a Peck. Her only chance now was that Juliette had followed her here, but she knew it was more likely she and the team were focused on busting Nick and Ricardo. She would never see Holly again. She hoped that Rachel and Lisa would look out for her. God, is my last conscious thought going to be about boob-job, Gail sighed to herself, trying instead to focus on an image of Holly's face, with her lop-sided smile and those warm, warm brown eyes. Just before she slipped into unconsciousness it occurred to her that she now knew what was meant by heartbreak, that it was an actual physical thing, because Holly Stewart had tattooed so many love lines across her heart and she felt like it was about to split in two from the anguish of knowing what she and Holly could have been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Was I a little evil to end the chapter there? More soon I promise.


	9. Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Holly was getting drunk. It wasn’t something she normally did. She liked a few drinks to loosen up but that was usually it. The logical, the scientific part of her brain knew that drinking never solved anything, but at this moment she wanted nothing more than the temporary oblivion she hoped it would bring. 

The last time she’d been drunk was two years ago when Gail had walked out on her at the Penny, leaving her behind with Rachel making sympathetic noises and Lisa doing little to disguise her triumphant expression. Holly had felt like her heart had stopped, but Lisa was relentless.

‘I predicted it wouldn’t last, but I didn’t think it would be over this quickly. She certainly was skittish’. Lisa crowed and was about to say more but then, catching Holly’s baleful look, gave a false little laugh. 

Holly had downed shot after shot of tequila; not her drink, not something she was accustomed to, but the drink of the woman she was fairly certain had just dumped her. And Holly, who was aware of her high IQ and felt like she knew the answers to a lot of things, was having trouble figuring out how it happened. So now here she was back in Toronto, back at the Penny for welcome drinks with her colleagues and the officers from 15, and once again Gail had left her high and dry and she was drinking tequila. 

She felt a flash of anger towards Nick. She knew it was irrational, but she blamed him. It was Nick who requested Gail for the undercover op and it was a lifetime of being put second by people like Nick that made Gail run from the Penny that night. As Holly reached for the shot glass the bartender placed in front of her, she felt a hand on her elbow stopping her.

‘Whoa, slow down there slugger,’ said Chloe, a bright smile on her face, ‘You’re going to need to be sober enough to stick this out for at least another hour’. 

Chloe didn’t know of course. None of Gail’s friends at 15 did, except Oliver. The operation was still active and he’d made Holly promise not to say anything. It was the first day in her new job and she gone into 15 that afternoon as part of the routine meet and greets that the Chief of Forensics, Dr Ruben Carral, had scheduled to get her orientated.

She’d made straight for Oliver’s office. While most of Gail’s colleagues knew or guessed from her absence that she was undercover, he was the only one at 15 who had any idea of her whereabouts or contact with her handlers, and he’d been checking in regularly with Holly to reassure her Gail was okay. Trouble was Holly hadn’t heard anything since she left San Francisco five days ago.

‘Ah Doctor Stewart, welcome back, welcome back. We are indeed lucky to have you working with us again,’ Oliver said, clearing a stack of papers from a chair so she could sit. ‘I can organize one of my very eager rookies to bring you coffee or tea’.

Shaking her head no, Holly remained standing. ‘Oliver, I mean Sergeant Shaw, I just need to know about Gail. I mean I haven’t heard from you for days and I know you’re busy and she’s probably okay, and I really appreciate that you’ve been keeping me informed and I know I shouldn’t imagine the worse but’ Holly broke off. She was babbling. She always did when she was nervous or worried but she couldn’t stop herself.

‘Ah, darlin’,’ said Oliver, ‘There’s no need to be alarmed’. His words were evasive, but it was the sympathetic note in his voice that tipped Holly off.

‘Something’s happened’.

‘No, no, Holly. The bust is underway now. You can understand things are a bit chaotic and I haven’t been, ah, brought up to speed on the operation, but all in good time, all in good time’. His tone was soothing but Holly was not convinced.

‘So where is Gail? Is she alright?’

Oliver rubbed his face with his hand and sighed. He sensed that Holly would not let up until he told her the truth. ‘We’re not sure, but the Vancouver PD have it in hand. They’re doing everything they can to get Gail out safely. And we have to trust Gail knows how to handle herself. The fact that I haven’t heard anything is not necessarily bad news’. 

Holly felt herself go cold. If asked later she would be unable to describe the feeling of fear that suffused her. For a moment everything seemed to stop; all she could hear was a loud rushing in her head and she seemed incapable of forming a coherent thought. As she slid down into the vacant chair, Oliver moved forward and patted her arm reassuringly. 

‘I think you need that tea now. I’m guessing something herbal’, he said.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur. Holly was grateful Dr Carral had told her to take her time settling in and didn’t expect her to perform any autopsies, although perhaps an autopsy would have distracted her from thoughts of Gail. 

She knew Dr Carral noticed she was flustered when she returned from 15, but even if she could have told him about Gail’s disappearance, she didn’t trust herself to speak. Her first day as Deputy Chief of Forensics and the way she was behaving she wouldn’t blame the Chief if he thought her appointment was a mistake. 

She tried to convince herself that Oliver was right. They couldn’t assume anything until they got word from Vancouver and, as Oliver had explained, it wasn’t uncommon for undercover operatives not to make contact for days. It didn’t necessarily mean anything was amiss. She’d been around the police long enough to know the job could be dangerous and that undercover carried additional risks, and if she was going to date a detective she’d have to get used to this. This thought was swiftly followed by the depressing realization that she may never get the chance to date Gail.

Now in the Penny, she ignored Chloe’s advice and tipped back the shot glass. The burn of the tequila felt like an apt counterpoint to despair. She saw Dr Carral watching her quizzically but she was beyond caring. Looking around, she noticed the room had become quite crowded. Holly was well liked by the officers at 15 who appreciated her efficiency and dedication to the job, and many of them, along with a good number of the forensics department, had shown up to welcome her back. 

The drinks had been Rodney’s idea. She suspected he was trying to make amends for the bet he and Frankie had in San Francisco. Gail would find it hilarious, thought Holly, especially as she had plans to exact an elaborate revenge on the pair. She exhaled loudly. That’s if Gail was coming back. 

A small commotion at the door drew her attention. Frankie had stopped on her way into the bar to exchange a few words with some officers who were leaving. As she laughed at what one of them was saying, she shifted so that Holly caught a glimpse of platinum blonde hair, the same color as Gail’s was when she first met her. 

Holly froze. It couldn’t be. There walking towards her with that oh so sexy sway of her hips was Gail Peck, looking tired and if possible paler than usual but with a big grin on her face. That adorable impish grin that Gail couldn’t suppress when she was particularly delighted, usually about the idiocy of her friends or one of her and Oliver’s crazy schemes to buy guns and shoes, but now it seemed because she’d just caught sight of Holly Stewart. 

Holly didn’t stop to think. She launched herself at Gail, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug and when she finally let go she whispered, ‘Thank God you’re here’. Then almost instantly she was kissing Gail and didn’t stop until a few of the officers from 15 started to woof whistle.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gail was saved by greed and her mother, which even she had to admit, was a bizarre confluence. Superintendent Mitchell had a good recall for faces and he thought Gail Peterson had an uncanny resemblance to the Peck girl. What was her name? Grace, Jill, could it have been Gail? Her hair was a different color and she’d discarded the black lipstick and fishnet stockings. He guessed she was about 15 when he met her, and she was so truculent and unruly, so clearly rebelling against all her parent’s stood for, he had doubted that even Elaine Peck could mold her into a police officer. 

Could she have joined the force, he wondered, and if she had would she have been bought to Vancouver for an undercover operation? It was possible, but he also knew that the Pecks, well some of them at least, had been exposed as corrupt. Was Gail one of them? If she’d been expelled from the force maybe she’d assumed this alias so she could do business with people like Lucia. Criminals tended to get jittery around ex-police, even if they were disgraced. It was unlikely but feasible. 

Gail’s credentials had checked out, as had those of her contacts in Australia who were going to help make the cartel very, very rich. Mitchell didn’t want to jeopardize that by wrongly accusing Gail, not if he wanted to remain in Lucia’s favor, so instead he decided to buy some time. Following Lucia to the bar, he leant in as she began to pour the drinks and said quietly, ‘I may recognize her’.

Lucia had turned slightly to look back at Gail before returning her gaze to Mitchell. ‘Is she police?’

‘I’m not sure. Not from here, maybe Toronto. I need to check her out. Can you put her out of action for a while’.

Lucia nodded. ‘How certain are you? You know its too late to call off Ricardo’.

‘I haven’t heard anything about a bust tonight. From what I can gather it’s a pint-sized operation. They wouldn’t have the manpower for a raid and there have been no requests at work for additional officers. But if you take care of blondie, I’ll do some digging about her and Slade can organize some back-up for Ricardo, make sure the shipment gets here okay’. 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

It was past 3am when Mitchell got word from Slade that the cocaine was safely stashed at his warehouse. There had been no sign of the police and no need for the extra men Slade had organized to cover Ricardo and Nick. Mitchell wondered if he might be wrong about Gail, but nonetheless told Slade to keep Nick occupied for the next few hours. He needed time to do some checking on the pair. 

At 3.30am Mitchell put a call through to Elaine Peck. From memory she was an early riser, and even though it was only 6.30am in Toronto he took a chance she would be awake. He knew her son was in prison, and that Bill had been suspended and he thought there was a good chance she had survived the scandal and remained in the force because of her own crooked connections. That or she had a lot of dirt on her superiors, although clearly not enough to save Bill. It had been years since he last saw her, but he felt they had always enjoyed each other’s company. There was definitely an element of flirtation and if it hadn’t been for Bill he might have acted on it.

‘Are you pulling an all-nighter, Graham?’ asked Elaine a little archly, clearly surprised by his call.

Mitchell laughed, ‘Couldn’t sleep and thought you might be awake. I’m coming to Toronto. I would love to catch up’.

Though Elaine was outwardly pleasant, suggesting dinner when Mitchell was in town, she was skeptical about his reason for calling, particularly given the hour. He was something of a smooth talker, and she had always found his attentiveness a little unnerving. As well, there had been rumors as Mitchell made his way up the ladder in the Vancouver PD that he was bent. 

After telling Elaine he was sorry to hear about Bill and Steve, Mitchell asked after Gail, had she followed her family into the force? The scandal may have rocked Elaine, and it certainly had curbed her influence within the Toronto PD, but she still had enough clout to know her daughter was undercover in Vancouver. She wasn’t a stupid woman. In fact she was very astute. If Mitchell, who Elaine had good reason to believe was corrupt, was asking after Gail, then her cover may about to be blown.

‘She quit a few months ago as well’, said Elaine, hoping she was playing this right. If she could persuade Mitchell that Gail was also corrupt and had left before she was drummed out of the force it might throw off his suspicions. 

‘For a new career?’ he asked.

‘Import and export, I believe, said Elaine breezily, ‘she hasn’t said much. You know how daughters can be. I think she wants to make a success of the business before telling me about it. Besides, she’s moved to Vancouver. As you can appreciate, Toronto is no longer the place to be if you are a Peck’.

As soon as Mitchell rang off, Elaine called Oliver. She didn’t mince words.

‘I know Gail is undercover in Vancouver, don’t try to deny it Oliver’, she said as Oliver attempted to interrupt. ‘You need to tell Gail’s handlers it looks like her cover is blown and Superintendent Graham Mitchell is working with the people they are investigating’.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Gail surfaced into consciousness when someone came to check on her. She recognized him as the guard she’d seen earlier at the gate. Her head felt floaty and she wondered idly if he’d been sent to kill her. 

She had hoped Mitchell might access her police work records and see that she’d been suspended pending an investigation. That had been Juliette’s idea, to alter the records, just in case someone recognized her. With any luck Mitchell might think she was just another corrupt Peck and let her go or at least not rush into killing her. 

The guard helped her to sit and held a glass of water to her lips, which Gail drank eagerly, the drugs having dehydrated her, but as she swallowed she realized from the bitter taste that she’d been drugged again. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It was nearly 6am when Mitchell made his way into the breakfast room at Lucia’s house, where he gratefully accepted the cup of coffee she held out for him. Christ, he thought suppressing a yawn, I’m too old for all-nighters. It amazed, no to be honest, annoyed him, how fresh faced Lucia looked. It was likely she’d only had a few hours sleep and here she was with her hair swept up into an elaborate bun and make-up perfect.

‘Well?’ said Lucia, looking at him expectantly.

‘I’ve just had a very enlightening conversation with Gail’s mother, Superintendent Peck’.

‘So she is police’, Lucia interrupted.

‘Was. Her mother claimed she left the force, but I checked her record. She was suspended three months ago and is under investigation. The Peck family used to run the police in Toronto but now her brother’s serving time for taking kickbacks and her father’s been suspended for trying to interfere in his trial. It seems like Gail might be a chip off the old block’.

‘But why not tell us she was ex-police?’

‘Would you have felt comfortable working with her?’

‘Probably not, no’, Lucia shook her head, ‘But what if its some kind of elaborate ruse?’

‘Her mother thought she’d gone into the import export business. Sound like code for drug dealing?’

‘Could be’, Lucia agreed, ‘although if that’s the case was Gail trying to sugar coat it for her mother or is the Superintendent in on it?’

‘Hard to know for sure. My guess is that Elaine is as crooked as the rest of the family. Look at it this way, if Gail were undercover the police would have known about the shipment and busted us last night, especially given the size of the shipment’.

‘If you’re right, we’re going to have to do a lot explaining to Gail’

‘I’m sure you can handle that Lucia’, Mitchell, not at all embarrassed by the flattery in his tone.

‘Hmm, but if you’re wrong about her, it means Nick’s also police’.

Mitchell nodded. ‘Slade’s bringing Nick here as soon as they finish up at the warehouse and once they get here, I suggest we wake blondie and get some answers out of her and Nick’. 

‘And if we don’t like what they have to say we’ll take care of them both’, Lucia gave a smile that was so unnerving and so devoid of warmth that Mitchell could only describe it as reptilian.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gail was woken by the sounds of shouting. Her head felt thick and her limbs were aching. For a moment she couldn’t recall where she was, until she looked down and saw that her hands had been tied. That’s right, Lucia had drugged her. Well, at least she wasn’t dead, she thought wryly. She had a memory of someone coming to check on her and being drugged again but the recollection was so hazy she couldn’t be sure whether she imagined it.

Looking around, Gail found she was in a small windowless room, the only light coming from a crack under the door. With difficulty she tried to shift up off the floor using the wall as leverage, but her muscles wouldn’t cooperate and she was hampered by the ties around her wrists. She tried hard not to think how much the situation reminded her of Perick’s basement. 

The shouting was coming closer and she wondered if it was a good sign. Did she dare hope that Juliette had sent a team to rescue her? Probably not with her dumb luck. And she didn’t want anyone else to die saving her. She sighed, unable to suppress an image of Jerry lying, bleeding, on Perick’s floor. The image that would always haunt her, his death made so much worse by Steve’s betrayal; for if Jerry had lived he and Traci would have married, and then Gail would have never encouraged her to date Steve. 

The door to the room being kicked open yanked Gail back to the present. She blinked at the sudden invasion of light. A burly ERT officer trained his rifle on her.

‘Detective Peck?’ the officer asked.

She nodded then cursed because the movement exacerbated the throbbing that had started in her head.

‘Detective Ward’, Gail heard the ERT officer shout, ‘I’ve found her’.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The paramedic guessed that Gail had been drugged with ketamine, based on how fast acting it had been and Gail’s descriptions of it effects, although later under questioning Lucia refused to confirm this. 

‘You might experience some short-term memory loss and you’ll probably feel lethargic for a day or two’, he said after checking her over.

‘Will it be worse if I’ve had it before?’ asked Gail, and when the paramedic had looked at her strangely, she added by way of explanation, ‘Not the first time I’ve been drugged by a psycho’.

‘It could increase your chances of experiencing flashbacks. It really depends on the dose you were given’.

Juliette had wanted to take her to hospital, but Gail had refused. Now, sitting in the ambulance with a blanket draped around her to keep her warm, she took in the scene before her. It was 7am and the street was full of squad cars, lights flashing and the occasional staccato calls from the car radios cutting through the crisp morning air. Lucia and Mitchell had been led away in cuffs and now detectives and a forensic team were combing the house. Not the usual thing this neighborhood woke up to, thought Gail.

She felt numb and disoriented, and she wasn’t sure if the cause was the aftereffects of the ketamine or the knowledge that her mother had saved her life. Discombobulated, that was a word for it. Gail had always assumed her mother kept tabs on her to ensure she was being the perfect Peck, but on this occasion Elaine had acted not like Superintendent Mom but as a mother and had moved heaven and earth to make sure her daughter was safe.

It seemed Elaine Peck still had a lot more clout than people gave her credit for. After speaking to Oliver, she rang Vancouver’s Deputy Police Commissioner and filled him in. She and Gail might not be on speaking terms, but dammed if she was going to lose her daughter. Within hours, Juliette had the backup needed to raid the warehouse where the drugs had been stashed, and a swat team was in place outside Lucia’s mansion. 

Gail watched as Juliette approached the ambulance. ‘I’m heading back to the station to start the interviews. Are you up to coming back with me to make a statement? Then I promise you can go home and sleep this off’. 

Home, that was Toronto, not the shitty apartment she’d been sharing with Nick these past weeks.

‘Am I needed for the interviews?’

Juliet shook her head. ‘No, we’ve got enough on them. Plus once you give your statement we can add forcible confinement and assault and battery to the charges’.

‘So can you get me on a flight to Toronto, once I’ve made the statement’.

‘Today?’ Juliette was surprised by the request.

‘Yeah’ 

‘But Gail, you’ve been drugged and held captive. I don’t think flying right now is a good idea’.

‘Its important’, said Gail, too tired to explain the urgency, ‘I need to get back’.

Juliette didn’t know Gail Peck well, but one thing she had observed was that Gail never asked for anything unless she had a good reason. 

‘Okay, I’ll do my best’, she said, ‘Oh and Gail, Nick found out how the drugs were getting past the Coast Guard. Turns out Slade was paying off one of the coast guard to let him know when the route was clear. We’ve arrested him as well’.

Gail nodded and then a thought occurred to her. ‘What about you Juliette? Slade made a pretty serious threat against you’.

Juliette smiled ‘Well, I’m here now. Must be good at lying low. I think Slade may have been a little distracted when they thought you might be a cop’.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gail was on the midday flight to Toronto. After debriefing with Juliette and giving her statement, she’d gone back to the apartment to shower and change and pack her few possessions. Nick had driven her and she was fairly certain he had explained to Juliette why she needed to get back home. 

As she’d left the station, Juliette had handed Gail her real wallet, phone and badge, and said ‘I need to apologize. You can definitely look at yourself in the mirror each morning’. 

Gail had shrugged, a little overwhelmed.

‘Well yeah, I’m glad things worked out for you and Nick’, she said, wondering at her sudden need to match Juliette’s generosity. 

She had planned on ringing Holly from the airport but the traffic was slow and by the time she checked in the plane was already boarding. Taking her seat, she pulled out her phone and tried Holly’s number but it was disconnected. Of course, she would have a new number now she was back in Toronto. 

Over the intercom, the flight attendant instructed passengers to buckle their seatbelts and turn off mobile phones. Gail hastily sent a text to Frankie asking her to collect her at the airport. Last night had reminded her enough of Perick and she didn’t think she could handle taking a taxi. At least Oliver would have told Holly she was safe, Gail thought. As the plane began to taxi down the runway, she closed her eyes and fell immediately asleep.  
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

8pm and Oliver still hadn’t heard from Juliette. He had put a call through to the detective an hour ago but her phone had gone straight to messages. Oliver sighed. He guessed he better make his way over to the Penny for Holly’s welcome back. He didn’t really want to face the doctor, not when he didn’t have any news for her, but he was already an hour late for the get-together. 

Oliver’s phone rang as he was pulling up outside the Penny. It was Juliette.

‘Gail safely home, then’ she said.

‘What’ Oliver asked confused, ‘is she okay? We haven’t heard anything’.

‘Oh’ said Juliette, ‘I thought Gail or Superintendent Peck would have told you. Nick put her on a plane back to Toronto at midday. Sorry, its been crazy here and I haven’t had a chance to call you’.

Oliver let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in. ‘Thank God. I need to go tell her girl’.

‘Well I believe she’s the reason Gail insisted on getting on that plane. But Oliver, Gail had a rough night. She’s okay but keep an eye on her’.

As Oliver opened the door to the Penny he could hear the sound of woof whistles and, judging by the scene before him, he didn’t need to tell Holly that Gail was safe. Peck had beaten him to it and it looked like Holly wasn’t letting go of her anytime soon.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gail had never seen Holly really drunk and she was fast discovering that drunk Holly was extremely handsy. Although she decided that after the last 24 hours Holly could touch her anywhere she wanted and she wouldn’t object, except not here in the Penny in front of half of 15 and Holly’s colleagues from forensics. And not tonight. The adrenaline rush Gail experienced on seeing Holly had worn off and now she felt like she could sleep for days. Tonight she just wanted to hold Holly close.

It felt surreal that less than 24 hours ago she was in the clutches of a modern day femme fatale. Dramatic much, Gail said to herself. When Frankie had told her about the get-together for Holly, Gail didn’t think she could face the Penny with the noise and the people and their inevitable questions, but then the longing to see Holly had won out. Now here she was seated at a booth in the Penny sandwiched between Chloe and Holly with Frankie opposite. Frankie, having collected Gail from the airport, was once again taking credit for reuniting she and Holly. The ego of the woman was astounding, thought Gail.

Holly was leaning in against Gail and her hand, which had started on Gail’s knee, was moving further and further up her leg. Gail knew she needed to get Holly home and soon. Holly was the consummate professional - well except when it came to her, thought Gail smiling at the memory of fake files and the kisses in interrogation rooms - and she might regret her behavior when she showed up at work tomorrow. Although, to be honest that kiss had put pay to any hope of keeping their relationship low-key at work.

‘Is it time to go home?’ Gail asked quietly, and when Holly nodded enthusiastically she turned to Chloe and said ‘Can you drive us Price?’

‘Jeez, Peck’, Frankie interrupted, ‘keep it in your pants’.

Gail just rolled her eyes. Was Frankie born to be a jackass. Once in Chloe’s car, Gail turned to Holly and said ‘my place or’. She trailed off, realizing she didn’t know where Holly was living.

‘I’m staying at Rachel’s, but your place’.

By the time they arrived at Gail’s, Holly who was in the backseat, and who had been talkative when they left the Penny, had become quiet. Gail went round to open her door and Holly looked at her sheepishly, saying softly, ‘I don’t feel too good. Things are spinning’. So Gail had led her upstairs, helped her out of her clothes and into a t-shirt and put her to bed. 

As she crawled in next to Holly, her head leaden from the need to sleep and feeling like every muscle and joint in her body ached, Gail reflected on the irony that it was she who was looking after Holly when at the airport she’d reassured Nick, a little saucily, not to worry about her because she’d soon be in the hands of a doctor.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

When Holly woke the next morning, she was alone. She hadn’t taken in much the night before, but looking around now she saw she was in a spacious attic room that led out onto a rooftop patio. There was a glass of water, Tylenol and a note on the bedside table. In her slightly messy script, Gail had written ‘Had to leave early. Hope your second day at work is ok. Feel free to borrow any of my clothes – there might even be some fleece. I’ll call later’.

Holly groaned and dropped her head back onto the pillow. Gail Peck had disappeared on her again.


	10. Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters...
> 
> I’ve been on holidays so have had a bit more time to write (which explains the longer chapters) but I’m back at work in a week so might not be able to update as frequently. When I first started writing this, I naively thought 2500 words was long for a chapter – how wrong was I – hope you can cope with the length of this chapter.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this. Let me know what you think.

Gail was jerked awake by a nightmare about Perick. In the dream, she wasn’t able to see. All she could hear was the staccato tap of those damn wingtip shoes on the concrete floor of the basement as he got closer and closer, and with it the sour smell of his sweat mixed with something antiseptic. She felt his stale breath hot upon her cheek and finally the needle piercing her skin, then the cold sting of the drug as it went into her veins. 

Her body became leaden, terror shooting through her as she realized she couldn’t move, couldn’t make a sound, not even a whimper to protest at the way the ties at her wrist cut into her flesh. Then suddenly she heard a voice. Not Perick’s, but Lucia’s, low and sultry but full of menace, saying ‘make her drink this and she’ll do what ever we want her to’. 

She woke then, her heart racing and her skin clammy, and the bedcovers suffocatingly heavy. Gail had a feeling she may have called out, but if she did it hadn’t disturbed Holly, who was a sound sleeper even though she claimed otherwise. 

Once, after a late night stakeout, Gail had let herself into Holly’s townhouse and in the dark tripped over a low table that Gail swore wasn’t there the day before and which for some reason Holly had decided to move, and as she fell, grabbing blindly at something to hold onto, she pulled down a rack of cds, the plastic containers spilling across the floor in an endless clatter. Holly slept through it all. Gail knew too that Holly set her ringtone to loud so she never missed a callout. She guessed being a heavy sleeper had its advantages when you had a girlfriend who worked odd shifts. 

Holly had moved in the night so she was curled against Gail with an arm around her waist. Gail gently extracted herself and slipped out of bed. In the bathroom she splashed cold water on her face. Looking in the mirror, she saw the tiredness in the dark, puffy circles under her eyes, stark against the paleness of her skin. 

It had been awhile since she’d dreamt about the basement. There had been a few months when the nightmares were constant after she’d told her therapist about Perick and admitted that no she had never really dealt with it. Just pushed it under the rug and moved on like a good Peck. Just like her mother advised when she eventually showed up after the abduction, telling Gail, ‘you won’t achieve anything by dwelling on this Abigail. The best course of action is to learn from this so you don’t make the same mistake again’. Her therapist had gently asked ‘Do you think its time we dwell on it now?’ Gail, feeling in equal measures relieved and terrified, had nodded. 

She shouldn’t be surprised that Lucia had joined Perick in the nightmare. Coming to in the windowless storage room, her senses dulled by the ketamine, it was as if she had been plunged back into Perick’s basement. What were the odds of being drugged and held captive twice, Gail wondered. She’d have to ring her therapist, even though she was overcome by lassitude at the thought of revisiting the basement. 

They’d made some progress on the kidnapping. She could now take a taxi if she was with someone else, but still not on her own, and if she found herself in a dark, confined space her chest no longer tightened and she could breathe normally, not in shallow, desperate gasps. With the therapist’s help, Gail had reconciled herself to Bill and Elaine’s seeming indifference to her wellbeing both on this and so many other occasions. She still blamed herself for Jerry’s death though –she didn’t think she ever could or should let go of that.

Gail’s phone was ringing as she came back into the bedroom and she stepped out onto the patio to take the call so as not to wake Holly. A cracked rib and possible concussion, she was told. No one said anything about a head injury until she got to the hospital.  
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Holly’s head still thudded with a constant almost heavy ache and her eyes felt scratchy. She knew she needed more sleep. The painkillers and a scalding shower had taken the edge off the hangover, as had the strong cup of coffee Chloe handed her. Her second day as deputy chief and she had a sinking feeling it was going to go about as well as the first. 

‘Gail still asleep?’ Chloe asked as Holly found her way downstairs into the kitchen.

‘She had to be somewhere early. She left a note’.

‘Really? She looked dog-tired last night. She told me she wanted to sleep for a week, which knowing Gail would be something she’d be capable of doing’, said Chloe, blithely unaware of the effect of her comments on the woman seated before her at Gail’s kitchen table. 

Holly mentally kicked herself. She had been so relieved to see Gail she hadn’t stopped to think that of course Gail would be exhausted after weeks of undercover. Not to mention she’d jumped on a plane literally the moment the bust was over and who knew what happened to her when she disappeared off the radar for those 10 hours. Gail certainly hadn’t wanted to talk about it last night. She told anyone who asked, including Holly, that the investigation was still active and she couldn’t say anything right now. 

‘I don’t usually drink, not like that’, Holly told Chloe, feeling she needed to explain why she’d been so insensitive to Gail. She was mortified that Gail had looked after her last night when it should have been the other way round.

‘I didn’t pick you for a drinker’, smiled Chloe, ‘but we all do crazy things when we’re in love.’

‘Um, I, ah’, stuttered Holly.

‘Oh, you haven’t told her yet,’ Chloe said, suddenly understanding why Holly was being so inarticulate. Holly started to nod, but then stopped. Her head wasn’t up to vigorous movement just yet. 

‘Well, I won’t saying anything. But just so you know, I’m 100 percent sure Gail feels the same way’.

‘God if I haven’t chased her away by being a lush,’ Holly groaned, ‘Do you have any idea where she would have gone so early?’

‘She didn’t say?’ Chloe looked surprised, ‘Maybe Superintendent Mom summonsed her.’

‘She still does that?

‘Well, not lately. Not since they stopped talking to each other when Steve went to jail.’ 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Gail met her parents outside the Intensive Care Unit at Toronto General.

‘They’ve put him in an induced coma until the swelling on his brain subsides’, she explained. 

Elaine nodded, while Bill looked straight past Gail at the wall behind her. She hadn’t seen her father since the court case. He looked ten years older and had the grey pallor of someone who was unwell and she thought resignedly she was probably responsible for this as well as what had happened to Steve. 

‘I’m sorry’, she said softly, ‘this is my fault. If I had spoken up for Steve in court.’ 

‘Abigail, now is not the time to ascribe blame’, her mother cut in, ‘we’ll go and sit with him. Bill’. Elaine turned to her husband. 

Bill had not spoken since they had arrived, not even to greet Gail, but rather remained stiff and motionless. Now, at the sound of his name, he came to with a little start and for the first time looked directly at Gail and, from the expression on his face, she saw that his rigidity came from barely contained anger.

As they turned to go through the thick glass door of the ICU, Gail called after Elaine, saying ‘Mom, I’ll ask around. See if this was random or if someone is going after Steve’. 

Elaine gave a brisk nod and followed her husband into the ICU.  
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Once she arrived at work, Holly went directly to Dr Carral’s office. She felt she owed him an explanation too.

‘Ah Holly, a little worse for the wear today,’ Dr Carral raised an eyebrow, but gave an understanding smile.

‘Ahh, about that, I need to apologise’, Holly began but the Chief interrupted her. 

‘Detective Peck explained last night. We of all people are aware of the dangers the police face, so I can imagine how tough it was for you to hear she had disappeared. I’m sorry you weren’t able to tell me what was going on. You didn’t need to be at work with that kind of worry’. 

Ruben Carral liked Gail Peck. People had described the detective as cold and querulous and even lazy but aside from her startling beauty, which was impossible to overlook, he had been struck by her sharp mind and appreciation of the importance of forensics to good police work. As well, since he’d moved here from Quebec she was one of the few people who took the trouble to speak to him in French. From what he could gather during their brief conversation last night, she cared very much for Holly. 

Carral didn’t know much about Holly’s personal life. He knew she was gay, she made no secret of that, and in his opinion nor should she, but that was it. He’d taken over the department after she’d left for San Francisco, but he had met her at conferences and read much of her published work, and had always been impressed. She was much sought after in the forensic field and they were lucky she had agreed to return to Toronto, although he suspected he might have Gail to thank for that.

‘It was better to be here, I think, even if I was a little distracted’, said Holly wondering when Gail had had a chance to speak to Carral at the Penny. Something else she hadn’t noticed. She was filled with warmth at the thought that Gail had quietly smoothed things over with Carral because she knew Holly well enough to realize that in the sober light of day the doctor would be horrified to think she’d made a bad impression on her first day in the job.

As she made her way back to her office, Holly was greeted by a number of colleagues who gave her knowing smiles. At least she imagined they were knowing but perhaps she was just being paranoid. One lab technician even winked and said ‘So you and Detective Peck, huh’. 

Holly sighed. She was relatively young to be deputy chief of forensics and had beaten out several internal candidates for the position, and it was a good bet that some, if not all, were likely to resent her and secretly hope she failed, which made it even more important that she prove herself in the job. She feared last night had just made that task even more difficult.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Gail knew she needed to call Traci. As the detective in charge of guns and gangs, Traci had contacts who may be able to tell her if someone was after Steve. There were plenty of candidates. When Steve had admitted his guilt, he had also agreed to give evidence against Commissioner Santana and in the process implicated the people Santana was protecting. Not to mention, as Gail’s father had made clear outside the court, the number of criminals Steve had put away who’d want a piece of him. 

In fact it was surprising it had taken this long for this to happen, Gail thought. Sure Steve had been roughed up a few times and the other prisoners were mostly antagonistic once they discovered he was ex-police, but he was in a minimum security prison which reduced his chances of coming across people he had locked up while working for guns and gangs. 

She took out her phone and brought up Traci’s contact number. It was the second call she had to make today to someone who didn’t want to speak her. The first, of course had been to her mother, who had expressed surprise that Steve had nominated Gail as his next of kin, but was subdued as soon as Gail told her the extent of Steve’s injuries. ‘We’re on our way’, she said curtly before hanging up.

She hadn’t had a chance to speak to Steve before he was put in a coma. The doctor said they had to move fast but she was hopeful the swelling on his brain would go down over the next few days and they could avoid surgery. Once he was brought out of the coma, they would have a better idea of the damage and what sort of rehabilitation he might require. 

A prison guard had been posted by Steve’s bed, which Gail knew was protocol, but really he was hardly going anywhere. As the doctor spoke she kept glancing at the guard and Gail wondered whether she had a problem either with the guard or with treating a prisoner, so when she said, ‘Do you have any questions Miss Peck’, Gail had replied ‘it’s detective’. 

She didn’t want the doctor to dismiss Steve as some low-life criminal and for this to compromise his treatment, and she thought if she identified herself as a detective then the doctor would see that Steve was not all bad.

‘Sorry?’ the doctor said, looking puzzled.

God, did she need to flash her badge. ‘I’m Detective Peck, but if you are treating my brother I imagine we are going to be seeing a lot of each other so please call me Gail’. 

When the doctor left, Gail realized she did have a lot of questions. She wished Holly were there to explain what was happening to Steve because she had a knack for making even the most complicated medical procedures intelligible. But she didn’t want to involve Holly or in fact any of her friends. The people at 15 never mentioned Steve, it was as if he had never existed, which was understandable given the extent of his betrayal, and Gail doubted they’d have any sympathy for him now. 

Holly of course would support her, but Gail didn’t want to scare her away by letting her see just how much of a shit storm her life really was, although if last night was anything to go by Holly didn’t have any intention of running. Then again they’d already had enough drama in their relationship and Gail didn’t think it was fair to entangle Holly in this one, especially when she had only just returned to Toronto expecting the promised dates and all those happy things that were supposed to happen when you started seeing someone. No, she’d make that call to Traci but after that she needed to deal with the Pecks on her own.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

At 5.15pm Holly’s phone pinged with an incoming text. It was from Gail and read:

Caught up with a thing. I’ll call tomorrow.

Was that it, was that the only explanation she was going to get, thought Holly, caught up with a thing. Last time Gail had a thing, as she had called it, she had nearly adopted a child. Holly was fairly certain that wasn’t the case now, but why was Gail being so mysterious. Was it related to the undercover job, but Gail had said her part in that was finished, and she would only need to return to Vancouver for the court case. 

Was I too clingy, wondered Holly, but then since Chicago they had been pretty clear about what they meant to each other. Gail certainly hadn’t objected to her attentions last night. Although she could imagine that it wasn’t always easy to go back to normal life after being undercover, and maybe Gail was overwhelmed by that transition, particularly as on her return Holly was suddenly part of the life she’d left behind. But then Gail was so sweet to Holly last night, helping her to bed while the room seemed to be shifting all around her and she dared not speak in case she threw up.

Ugh, Holly sighed to herself, she thought she and Gail had agreed to always tell each other stuff, to communicate, and here she was once again trying to second guess Gail. Deciding that for the moment she wouldn’t pressure Gail, she typed out a text.

OK. Call me when you can. xx Holly

Were the kisses too much? If Gail was being a cat up a tree would the kisses push her up to an even higher branch. Holly shook her head as if to clear it. What a stupid analogy, she thought. It had been hard enough to work out what Gail was talking about on the day they met when she described herself as being like a cat up a tree, so Holly didn’t get why she herself was trying to use the analogy now. Dammit, she thought and hit the send button.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Seamus O’Connell’, Traci stated, as she placed a file on the table in front of Gail, ‘he works for O’Leary’. 

They had agreed to meet in a coffee shop near 15 after Traci finished her shift. She didn’t have much time, Traci explained as she sat down, before she needed to collect Leo from her mother. 

When Gail rang and asked for help, Traci had said nothing for so long that Gail wondered if she had rung off, but finally she breathed a single word ‘Okay’.

Gail opened the file and looked at Seamus O’Connell’s mug shot. He was a brutish man, with a wide square head and eyes like slits and a four leaf clover was tattooed on his right temple. His rap sheet was extensive.

‘What was he doing in minimum security?’ Gail asked.

‘He was picked up for unpaid parking fines. We hoped that once we got him down to the station we could get him to cough about some other activities we suspect he’s involved in, but he wouldn’t co-operative. And instead of paying the parking fines, he opted for a month in prison and no one goes to maximum for parking fines’.

Gail nodded. She didn’t need to say anything. She sensed Traci was aware that going after O’Connell had indirectly led to Steve being bashed.

‘The good news is that O’Leary doesn’t want him dead. He just wanted to teach him a lesson’, Traci said, ‘I don’t think they’ll come after him again, but Gail once he’s out of hospital Steve shouldn’t stay in Toronto’.

‘Can you believe it Trace, he is due to be released in two weeks. He almost made it without this happening’.

Traci’s face softened. ‘I’m sorry, Gail’, she said.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

People might think it strange, but for Holly an autopsy had a particular rhythm and an order that she found calming and which at this moment was working to distract her from thinking about why Gail hadn’t called her for two days. 

The victim was the member of a gang. Shot execution style. An officer she had not met before had been sent ahead with her to the morgue. He had introduced himself as Officer Duncan Moore. Gangly and gormless, he was like an oversized kid and gave the impression he was playing at being a police officer. Frankie came into the room as Holly was leaning over the body to remove the liver. 

‘Eyes front’, Frankie snapped at Officer Moore, and Holly looked up to see the officer hastily averting his eyes from her. Wait, had he been staring at her breasts, she wondered. 

‘Gerald go get coffee’, ordered Frankie and then turning to Holly, ‘flat white right Doctor?’ and Holly nodded, ‘Okay two flat whites Gerald’ and she handed him some notes before dismissing him with a wave of her hand.

‘Gail would have made him pay’, Holly observed.

‘Well, I’m nicer than Gail, I thought you would have realized that by now’.

‘I thought his name was Duncan’, Holly said, choosing to ignore Frankie’s comment.

‘Gail called him Gerald and it sort of stuck’.

That sounded right, thought Holly. Gail was always giving people nicknames. She was nerd and lunchbox. Chloe was the Disney princess, there was Girl Guide wouldn’t hurt a fly McNally and Boy Scout Diaz. Dov was king of the dorks and behind Frankie’s back, Gail called the detective the lesbian Lothario or LL. The epithet was usually accompanied by an eye-roll.

‘Have you realized yet that you’ve chosen the wrong detective?’ Frankie asked, the swagger in her tone impossible to miss.

Holly laughed. She knew Frankie was just trying to needle her. It seemed to be her way of communicating. In this respect she was not unlike Gail, but where there was a playfulness to Gail’s asperity, Frankie just seemed sulky. 

‘I’ve heard about your claim to give women the best sex of their lives’, Holly said.

So Gail had told Holly about that, thought Frankie, but was determined not be embarrassed by her boasfulness, even though hearing Holly quote it back to her did make it sound somewhat arrogant. Frankie was very confident about her abilities when it can to sex but when she had said that to Gail she was just trying to get under her skin. Not that that had stopped Gail sleeping with her.

‘Are you propositioning me Holly?’ 

Holly laughed again. ‘No, I’ve heard the testimonials’.

‘Geez, what has Peck said’. Frankie sounded peeved.

‘Actually, nothing Frankie. I’m just messing with you’.

Frankie scowled. She realized she’d walked straight into that. She’d have to be alert around Holly. No wonder she and Gail worked, because Holly gave just as good as she got.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Steve somehow looked smaller lying in the bed hooked up to so many machines Gail knew she should ring Holly, but she didn’t know what to say to her. Maybe it was better to wait until the swelling on Steve’s brain had gone down and they had a clearer idea of his prognosis.

She was startled by the sound of her mother’s voice.

‘Have you been here since yesterday?’ Elaine asked, but instead of sounding critical, her tone was one of concern. ‘You should go home, get some rest’.

Gail shrugged and stretched as she got out of her chair. ‘I’ll go get us coffee’.

As Gail stepped out of the elevator on the ground floor and made her way to the hospital cafeteria, she was thinking at least it makes decent coffee because she wouldn’t have got through the last few days without the caffeine. Sometime soon, she was sure, she would get a good night’s sleep. However, her musings were cut short when she heard her name being yelled out and not just her name.

‘Gail Peck, you fucking asshole’.

Gail sighed and turned. It was Lisa.

‘Good afternoon to you too, Lisa’.

‘No its not Peck. For the past two days Rachael and I have had to listen to Holly moan endlessly about whether she came on too strong and has pushed you away and some dammed stupid analogy about a cat. If you’re giving her the silent treatment again, I swear, wait why are you at the hospital? Is something wrong with you?’

Gail shook her head ‘No, its my brother. Head injury. He’s in an induced coma’. Really, she should have anticipated seeing Lisa at the hospital. Instead she was taken off guard and now without thinking blurted out the truth to her.

‘Oh,’ said Lisa, softening slightly. ‘I’m sorry to hear that, that’s a tough thing to deal with, but its no excuse for not speaking to Holly’. 

‘No, its not, but its complicated’, Gail bit her bottom lip, unsure how to explain it to Lisa. It had made complete sense in her head when she had ticked off the reasons for keeping Holly out of the latest Peck drama, but now with Lisa looking at her so belligerently she wasn’t so sure. 

‘Are you being all stoic and trying to deal with this on your own’, Lisa said, the anger creeping back into her voice. ’I’ve got news for you Peck, this is Holly. She’d want to help. At the very least you should tell her. I have to go. I’m running late for surgery but you need to call her now’.

‘I know. I will’, Gail said as Lisa spun on her heel. Just as she was about to disappear into the elevator, Lisa turned back to Gail.

‘I’ll come by and look at his chart, if you’d like. Whose his neuro doctor?’

‘Dr Barrett’.

‘Oh Alannah. She’s very good’ said Lisa, ‘Holly and I went to med school with her’.

Of course you did, thought Gail.

‘And Gail, she used to have a thing for Holly’.

Of course she did.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Gail hadn’t called yesterday. Holly didn’t know what to do. She’d tried to play it cool, not wanting to push Gail. It felt like the Penny incident all over again and she didn’t want to react the way she did last time, leaving countless texts and messages that went unanswered for weeks. Should she go round to Gail’s house? Perhaps she should talk to Chloe. She might have some idea about why Gail had disappeared on her. 

Holly felt a flash of anger. This shouldn’t be happening. Relationships shouldn’t be this difficult. All Gail had to do, in fact what Gail had promised to do, was talk to her. Instead here was Holly at work supposed to be concentrating on budget allocations for the next financial year ahead of a meeting with Dr Carral and all she could think about was Gail. 

Until Gail, Holly hadn’t believed she could love anyone so completely, so recklessly, to give herself so entirely with no heed to how vulnerable it made her, but if Gail was going to run hot and cold like this Holly didn’t know if she could bear to be in love with her. Before she could really consider the implications of that thought, Holly heard a tap on her office door. She looked up to see Traci Nash, a large smile on her face.

‘I had to see Rodney about a case, so thought I’d stop by and welcome you back. I couldn’t make it to the Penny the other night’, Traci said.

‘It’s great to see you Traci’. Holly came around from behind her desk to hug Traci. ‘And I believe you’re a Detective Sergeant now, congratulations’.

‘Thanks and congratulations to you too Deputy Chief. You’re on the fast track Holly’, Traci smiled. 

‘Yeah, well I have a feeling there are a few people around here who may have a problem with that’.

Traci raised her eyebrows questioningly. 

‘With my age’, Holly clarified.

‘They’ll get over it once they see how good you are at your job. It’s always something though isn’t it. You’re a woman, or black or too young. I’m guessing being gay doesn’t make it easy either sometimes’.

‘Yeah’ said Holly, knowing that of course Traci would have come across her share of bigotry in the workplace, and probably far worse than any she had encountered. ‘Ignore me. I’m just feeling a little sorry for myself’.

‘Well, it must be hard, trying to settle in with everything going on with Steve. I’m guessing you probably haven’t seen much of Gail’.

‘Traci what do you mean, what’s going on with Steve?’ 

‘Oh’ said Traci, ‘Gail hasn’t told you. Of course. Those Pecks were brought up to be so stupidly self-reliant. He was beaten by another prisoner. He’s at Toronto General. They put him in an induced coma’.

‘Oh god’, said Holly, ‘so a brain injury. He was due to be released in two weeks. Gail’s going to blame herself’.

Traci nodded.

‘I need to go to her. She’ll be at the hospital won’t she?’ Holly said, pushing aside her earlier anger at Gail and unable to think of anything but the urgency of getting to her.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Outside the hospital cafeteria, Gail took out her phone and brought up Holly’s contact. Another difficult call she needed to make. She had a lot of explaining to do. If she hadn’t had the foresight to get Holly’s new number at the Penny the other night, she could have used that as an excuse for not ringing. No, definitely not, who are you kidding Gail thought, as she heard Holly’s voice on the other end of the phone.

‘Gail’, Holly sounded breathless as if she’d been running.

‘I’m at the hospital, with Steve’, Gail knew she sounded small and apologetic.

‘I know. I’m one my way’.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Gail had drawn the curtain around Steve’s bed for some privacy. She needed to shut out the rest of the ICU, every bed taken up by a patient as critical or worse than Steve, surrounded by beeping machines and hooked up to endless tubes with relatives at their bedsides looking as ashen and exhausted as she no doubt appeared. Only two relatives were allowed in the ICU at one time, so most families, including the Pecks, were taking it in shifts, although Bill had managed to avoid Gail since that first day. At least the guard had gone since that first day.

The curtain was pulled back slightly and Holly was there, all concern and love on her face, and she pulled Gail into a fierce hug. Gail held on to her as tight as she could and said ‘Thank you for coming’, the words almost breathed rather than spoken as she fought to stop the tears. 

Holly drew back and then placed a soft kiss on Gail’s lips. ‘I’ve come to take you home’, she said.

‘Holly, I can’t. I need to be here in case. I don’t want to leave him on his own’, Gail gestured at Steve.

‘Honey its okay. Your mother said she’ll sit with Steve tonight’. 

‘Wait, you spoke to Elaine’.

‘Yeah, she’s just outside in the ICU waiting room. The only reason I was allowed in here was because she told the nurses I was your girlfriend’.

‘She knew that’, Gail asked puzzled, ‘Of course, she’d have her spies’.

‘And I’ve spoken with Alannah, Dr Barrett’, Holly continued, deciding now was not the time to speculate how Elaine knew about her and Gail’s relationship, ‘and she said she’s pleased with Steve’s progress. The swelling has reduced significantly and Dr Barrett is confident she can bring him out of the coma tomorrow. So I suggest, I take you home, you have a shower, which I hate to say but you really need, you eat some of the dinner Chloe is preparing as we speak, then you sleep and tomorrow morning I’ll bring you back here’.

Gail could only nod. She was so stupid. Why hadn’t she called Holly earlier.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t call. You should be angry with me’.

‘Gail’, Holly’s voice was firmer now, ‘Believe me, I am angry that you shut me out, and don’t worry we are going to talk about that but not now. Okay?’

Again Gail nodded.

‘I didn’t want to burden you with my crap’

‘Gail, am I your girlfriend?’

Gail nodded, not sure where Holly was going with this. 

‘Which means you get to burden me with stuff okay. Because I’ll burden you with my stuff too. That’s just the way it works. Otherwise I can’t do this.’

‘Okay’, Gail said quietly, knowing she deserved that.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chloe greeted Gail with a hug.

‘Uhh, you know Chloe, not really the way I communicate’, Gail said, ‘And apparently I stink’, but Chloe ignored her and Holly laughed.

‘I’m so sorry about Steve. Andy said to say she was thinking of you and sent these flowers’, said Chloe pointing to a vase of brightly colored gerbera daisies, ‘and Chris said he’s off work for the next couple of days and can come sit with you at the hospital if you need company. Oh, and Frankie asked if she should warn off any of the inmates at the prison’.

Gail felt overwhelmed. ‘Oh, that’s’, she paused and bit her bottom lip, ‘that’s really nice’. Then hurriedly added ‘I’m going to take a shower’.

‘Okay, dinner will be ready in about half an hour’.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

Gail heard the shower screen open and then Holly was behind her, reaching for the soap.

‘What are you doing?’ Gail asked as Holly gently began to wash her.

‘Call yourself a detective. I thought it was obvious. Someone needs to make sure you’re clean’.

‘Yeah’, Gail said, suddenly not feeling at all tired as Holly’s soapy hand slid across her breast, stopping to pay particular attention to her nipple. She turned and kissed Holly, gently then with more force as Holly responded, all the while pushing Holly so she was now against the tiled wall. She trailed her hand down Holly’s stomach and then between her legs, smiling as her fingertips brushed Holly’s clit.

Holly intake of breath was sharp. They shouldn’t be doing this. Gail was exhausted. Emotionally drained. But before she could protest, Gail was on her knees before Holly, clearly determined. Holly closed her eyes, anticipating the feel of Gail’s tongue, but then nothing happened. Instead Gail exclaimed ‘What’s this?’ and pointed to a small tattoo on Holly’s hip. It was of a stylized cat, its back arched. 

‘Oh, that’ Holly said a little shyly.

‘Yeah, that, Holly’ Gail said, standing so she was facing Holly.

‘I got it when you were undercover, so you were sort of always with me, I know its stupid, because I guess it feels like you are always with me anyway, and you’re not really a cat and that analogy really was ridiculous but'.

Gail smiled. Holly was rambling so she dealt with it the best way she knew how. She kissed her. Gail couldn’t believe it. Holly had always said she would never get a tattoo because it was impossible to choose something she’d be happy to have inked on her flesh for the rest of her life. It seemed like she had chosen Gail and it filled Gail with a happiness so huge that she had not thought possible.

As they continued to kiss, Holly moved Gail so she was now against the wall, her thigh between Holly’s legs and Holly’s hand on her center, the heel of her palm pushing against Gail’s clit. She felt Holly place one and then two fingers inside her and begin to thrust, and she knew, despite her tiredness, she was going to come quickly. As she cried out, she heard herself say ‘Holly, I love you’. Had she really said that, Gail wondered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would Holly have been even more understanding if she knew Gail was drugged and held captive in Vancouver, and if Gail had told her about Perick? She is going to find out eventually.


	11. Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….
> 
> Gail’s had a hard time in the last few chapters so things are quite a bit better for her in this one, but first she has to see her therapist. Hope you enjoy – let me know what you think.

.................................................................................................................................

‘So you must be relieved about Steve’, Gail’s therapist said. 

Dr Leslie Castello had been seeing Gail regularly for a little over a year. In fact ever since Gail had shown up saying she didn’t have much faith in head doctors but her brother was in prison, she’d been disowned by her parents, relinquished Sophie to another family and pushed Holly thousands of miles away and she figured she was the common denominator that needed to be fixed. 

Not to mention the flashbacks to Perick. There seemed to be no pattern to the nightmares. Gail could go for months with out dreaming about the kidnapping and then for several days in a row she’d be rattled awake, her heart pounding, her body clammy, and that feeling of absolute terror she experienced in the basement cloaking her like a shroud that she couldn’t shake off, even during her waking hours.

Today's session was drawing to a close and Leslie was concerned about how exhausted Gail looked. She knew the detective would find it hard not to feel at least partly responsible for Steve's hospitalisation

‘Yeah, I mean his speech is a little slurred and he has a tremor in his right hand, but Doctor Barrett is confident that can be mostly fixed with physical therapy. He won’t be able to use a gun ever again, but then ex-cons aren’t exactly allowed to own weapons’, Gail said now.

The barb about guns confirmed what Leslie already knew - Steve’s betrayal still cut deep. 

‘He‘s a bit down’, Gail continued, ‘which apparently is common in people who’ve had a head injury, so I’m visiting as much as I can.’

‘You go back to work the day after tomorrow?’ Leslie asked, and when Gail nodded, said ‘So I guess that will make it harder to visit so often’.

‘Yeah, but I can go before or after shift, as long as we don’t pick up any big cases, and when I’m not there my parents are usually with him’.

‘So do you think this has brought you and your parents closer?’

Gail snorted dismissively and screwed up her face. ‘No, I’m mean at least my mother and I are talking, but my father must check when I’m at the hospital because I haven’t seen him since that first day, even though Steve says he’s there regularly’.

‘That must be hard’.

‘It is what it is’, Gail shrugged but Leslie knew her well enough to sense the hurt that lay beneath the apparent indifference so she decided to probe further.

‘I imagine it must be difficult knowing your parents visit Steve every day when they didn’t come back when you were in hospital after being kidnapped’.

The untrained eye would have missed it, but Leslie saw that for the briefest of moments Gail looked stricken and then almost instantly her face became impassive. Ah, the shell is back in place, Leslie observed.

‘Well, there is a difference. We didn’t know if Steve would make it. I wasn’t about to die. Anyway, aren’t bedside vigils reserved for people we love’.

‘You don’t think your parents love you?’ 

‘Leslie, I think we’ve established that’s an emotion they don’t feel for me’, Gail said, her tone biting.

They’d gone over this many times. Gail, at least, had identified that her inability to trust in relationships and her pattern of choosing partners who would ultimately leave had its roots in her parent’s rejection. Bill and Elaine’s love was conditional upon her living up to their expectations, which had left Gail caught between pleasing them and being true to herself and failing miserably at both. 

‘What about your mother’s intervention in the undercover operation? Wasn’t that an act of love?’ Leslie pushed.

‘Ha, she was probably just making sure I didn’t screw up’, Gail said bitterly.

Over the past year Leslie had come to believe that Gail had accepted, if a little grudgingly, that her parents, in their own limited way, did love her. Clearly after this latest incident with Steve, Gail doubted even that. Leslie decided they would pursue this topic another day. 

‘It sounds like you were very brave and clear headed, which is amazing given the parallels with the kidnapping.’ Leslie said.

Gail gave a self-deprecating laugh. ‘You remember Leslie when we talked about how it was unlikely to happen again, well it seems like I drew the short straw again’.

‘The important thing is you survived again’, Leslie said firmly.

‘You know, you’re actually right in a way. When I was tied up in that storage room, I couldn’t help but hope that I’d be rescued because I had been once before. And I had to have hope because I couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing Holly again’.

‘So have you told Holly about being held captive?’

Gail shook her head. ‘And not about Perick either’.

‘You said Holly wants you to be open with her. Why do you think you don’t want to share this with her?’

Gail sighed. ‘She did the autopsies on some of the women Perick took. She knows what they went through. I don’t want her to imagine that could have happened to me. And’. Gail paused.

‘And’, prompted Leslie.

‘Unlike most of the people I know, Holly doesn’t look at me like I’m that broken girl kidnapped by a psychopath and I kind of like that’.

‘You don’t think Holly knows you well enough to see past that?’

‘I don’t want to push my luck’, Gail said.

‘Gail, we need to finish now. But I want you to consider telling Holly about the kidnapping. You said she was upset with you because you didn’t tell her about Steve immediately. Wouldn’t she want to know about something that has had such an impact on your life?’

Gail nodded, but the thought of telling Holly about Perick and her nightmares filled her with dread. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The morning after Holly brought her home from the hospital Gail had woken to find Holly once again curled around her. Gail felt more refreshed than she had in weeks. She’d spent the previous two nights shifting uncomfortably in the plastic chair by Steve’s bed, sleep coming in fits and starts. At least when she was awake she wasn’t dreaming about Perick and Lucia. 

Waking up this morning, she now got what people meant when they said they slept like a baby because that’s exactly how she felt. Gail smiled to herself. Holly, sex and good food was obviously all she needed. Then she stopped smiling as she remembered what she had let slip in the shower. 

Holly hadn’t said anything about it. Not in the shower. Not later when they dried off and got dressed, still trading kisses until Holly said they needed to go downstairs because dinner would be ready. Not later in bed, when Gail immediately snuggled into Holly’s side. Maybe Holly didn’t think she meant it. 

Gail was conscious that people tended to pick more profound moments and romantic settings to tell someone they loved them. Her shower was very fine but describing it as romantic was a stretch, although that orgasm had been profound, she smiled again. Well, she’d never been one for conventions and she had a feeling that was something Holly liked about her.

‘What are you grinning about?’ Holly asked, looking up at Gail with her own smile. Her voice was lazy with sleep, her eyes blinking slightly as she shifted into wakefulness. 

‘You’, said Gail, thinking to herself that’s it I’m officially a paid up member of the sap club, Chloe will rejoice, and just to confirm that membership she leant over and kissed Holly. ‘Thank you for last night’, she said, pulling back slightly from Holly and wondering if she should mention what she had said in the shower.

‘Gail, I need to apologize for something’.

‘I thought I was the one who needed to grovel’. Gail was puzzled.

‘Well, yeah you do have some making up to do Peck’, Holly arched an eyebrow, ‘but I’m talking about the night you got back. I was so drunk and I didn’t think about how you would be feeling after being undercover, and of course you were exhausted. I should have realized that when you were just drinking water. I feel like I was so selfish. I mean normally I don’t get that drunk but’.

Before Holly could continue, Gail leaned in again and kissed her.

‘You want me to shut up, don’t you’, Holly said, looking a little sheepish.

Gail nodded, her expression one of amusement. ‘I’ve never seen you really drunk before. Who knew how handsy you’d get after a few drinks’. 

‘Uggh’, Holly groaned flopping back on her pillow and pulling the bed sheet over her head, ‘and in front of all my colleagues and half of 15’.

‘Well, I think they’d understand’, Gail said, her amusement growing.

Holly pulled the sheet down off her face and looked at Gail skeptically.

‘I mean’, Gail said, gesturing to herself with a playful smirk, ‘all of this is hard to resist’. 

Holly rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at Gail and then launched herself at her, and they wrestled for a bit, both giggling until Holly trapped Gail beneath her and pinned her arms above her head. Bringing her face so it was almost touching Gail’s, Holly said ‘You’re incorrigible Gail Peck you know that’.

‘I thought you were the incorrigible one, Stewart, the way you can’t keep your hands off me’.

This elicited another smile from Holly, the slightly indulgent one she reserved for Gail when she said or did something audacious. Holly looked like she was about to kiss Gail, but then her expression turned serious. ‘Would you have told me about Steve, if I’d been awake?’

‘Um, I guess’, Gail shifted, suddenly uncomfortable beneath Holly’s gaze, and knowing she needed to be honest but also conscious that Holly might not like hearing the truth. ‘I guess I wouldn’t have had a choice if you’d been awake, I don’t think you’d have let me get away with saying I had to go because I had a thing’.

‘No’, Holly said, ‘Can you just erase that expression from your vocabulary? I don’t want you to ever fob me off again by saying you’ve got a thing’.

Gail suddenly felt guilty. She had been so caught up in Holly that for a moment she had pushed thoughts of Steve to the back of her mind. 

‘I should get up. I need to get back to the hospital’.

‘Honey, you know you don’t need to go through this alone’, Holly said, moving so Gail could sit up.

Gail nodded, but then said, ‘If I had lied in court this wouldn’t have happened. My father warned me, and I knew anyway what it would be like for an ex-cop in prison’.

Holly felt her heart break at the look of desolation on Gail’s face. Taking her hand, Holly said firmly, ‘Gail this is not your fault. No one is to blame for Steve going to prison but himself’. 

And probably your parents for pushing you both too much, thought Holly but didn’t say it out loud. She hated that Bill Peck had put Gail in this impossible position in the first place. Gail Peck could be many things. Obnoxious, rude and yes cold, even Holly had experienced what it was like when Gail decided to freeze you out, but Holly knew two things for sure, Gail was loyal and honest. No parent should have asked their child to choose between the two. It would have destroyed a lesser person, Holly realized.

‘I just feel like I’ve let him down’, Gail said, looking away from Holly.

‘Gail, look at me’, Holly titled Gail’s chin up so she could see her face, ‘you did everything you could to make sure Steve was okay in prison. You visited every week and now he’s in hospital you’ve hardly left his bedside. I don’t care what anyone, including your parents, say, but there is no way in the world Steve would blame you or think you let him down. He is lucky to have you as a sister. And don’t think I’m just saying this because I’m your girlfriend because I know what I’m talking about.’ 

Holly spoke so forcefully and her gaze was so intent that Gail realized there was no use arguing with her. A part of her knew Holly was right, but she still couldn’t shake the guilt.

‘Alright, alright Holly, I get it’, Gail smiled weakly, but as Holly leaned forward to pull her into a hug, Gail was struck by Holly’s faith in her and the fierceness with which she defended her and it occurred to her that no one had ever done this for her before.

‘Do you want me to come with you to the hospital today? It could be tough seeing Steve when he first comes out of the coma’, Holly said, loosening her arms from around Gail and drawing back slightly.

‘Thanks, but don’t you have a job to go to Holly’. Gail’s tone was teasing but Holly sensed she was using it as a deflection.

‘Dr Carral would understand’.

Gail leaned into Holly and, taking her chin in her hand, kissed her gently. ‘How about I call you if I need you there’, she said softly.

Holly nodded. ‘Okay, but no more radio silence agreed’.

‘I promise’, Gail said, her voice still quiet and her expression solemn.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

As it turned out, Gail and Holly didn’t see each other for another four days. The gang member shot execution style was the first of many as a turf war between two of Toronto’s largest gangs escalated. Forensics were swamped and Holly wasn’t finishing up at the morgue until well into the night. Any free time she had was spent looking for somewhere to live. 

Lisa had stayed on at Rachel’s place, understandably too unsettled to return to her apartment even after it was refurbished, deciding instead to put it on the market. She too was house hunting and, to Gail’s horror, had mentioned how much she liked Gail’s neighborhood. Lisa had even suggested she and Holly could get a place together.

Gail sensed that Holly, after the initial excitement of being with her friends again, was beginning to find the sorority house, as Gail had dubbed it, a little stifling. Especially as she was used to living on her own and had commented more than once that Lisa was okay in small doses. Holly hadn’t said anything, but Gail was sure this was behind the urgency to move out.

All this coupled with Gail spending nearly all her time at the hospital meant it was impossible to find even a moment to see each other, and they decided if Holly stayed over they probably wouldn’t get much sleep so the sensible course would be to wait until things settled.

‘What about tomorrow evening’, Holly now asked, wishing desperately that she could be talking to Gail in person rather than over the phone, ‘Traci and Frankie have made some arrests for these gang murders, so unless someone else goes on a killing spree in Toronto, I should be able to leave work at a decent hour’.

‘Um, I’ve got a thi’, Gail stopped herself and instead said, ‘I’m seeing my therapist’ 

‘Oh’, said Holly, ‘That’s good right?’

‘Yeah, I mean its not about us. Well it is about us, I guess, because if I sort out my stuff it will be better for us. But the sessions are kind of intense. I usually need to go home and be on my own afterwards’.

‘Okay, I get that’, said Holly.

‘But how about the night after?’

‘Are you asking me out on a date detective?’ Holly said flirtatiously.

‘Well I did promise you dates’.

‘Okay, on one condition’, Holly said, ‘I get to choose what we do’.

‘Really Holly, who's asking who out on this date’, Gail huffed, but her annoyance was feigned.

‘Well Gail, I think you owe me big time after not telling me about Steve, so I’ll take this as your first down payment’.

‘Oh god, alright’, Gail groaned, ‘I guess we’ll be going to some weird nerd place. What should I wear?’

‘Just something very casual’, Holly laughed, but Gail detected a note of glee in her voice and wondered, with a small measure of dread, what the doctor had in store for her. Clearly she really was going to pay.

As they ended the call, Gail noted that Holly still hadn’t mentioned anything about what she had said in the shower. Gail had pondered this at length. Maybe Holly hadn’t heard her. No she was pretty loud. She’d be surprised if Chloe hadn’t heard her. Perhaps Holly had misheard her and thought Gail was saying she loved what Holly was doing to her at the time, which she had to admit was sensational. No, maybe Holly was just giving her some space. Allowing her to find the right moment to say it again. That made sense to Gail, and it occurred to her then that she wasn’t actually that worried about blurting out that she loved Holly because she was almost completely certain Holly felt the same way. Now all she needed to do was think of the appropriate time to say it again.  
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘So I’m really happy with Steve’s latest scans’, Dr Barrett, or Alannah as she insisted Gail call her, was saying, ‘and the good news is that we’re going to move him from intensive care to his own room today’.

Gail smiled. Alannah had been quite a surprise. After her initial brusqueness, which Gail now realized came from the pressure she was under to respond quickly to Steve’s case, the doctor had been pleasant and attentive, taking great care to explain what Steve was going through and the options for his treatment. The doctors had woken Steve from the induced coma without too much difficulty, and despite the seriousness of the head injury, its effects were relatively minor or, as Alannah put it, manageable. A nurse told Gail it would have been worse had Dr Barrett not acted so promptly to prevent further brain damage.

‘Given Steve’s age and fitness and with the support you’ve been giving him, I think he could make an almost full recovery with rehabilitation,’ Alannah continued.

Gail let out a sigh of relief. ‘That’s good news’.

‘At least he won’t have to go back to prison. Prison infirmaries can be brutal’.

‘Yeah,’ Gail said, ‘Did you know my father’s suing the prison?’

‘Oh, well I guess that could help with medical expenses. Recovery will be a long road’.

‘My family can afford it’, Gail said flatly, ‘Steve was in prison because he did the wrong thing. It doesn’t seem right that he’d get some big payout’.

‘Gail, your brother actually seems like a good guy. You know sometimes it’s easy to make one mistake that leads to another and suddenly you find yourself in deeper than you thought. It sounds like your parents put a lot of pressure on you two to live up to the Peck legacy and I’m guessing that might have had something to do with Steve’s actions’

‘But I didn’t become corrupt,’ Gail said, wondering where Alannah had heard about the Peck legacy, and thinking surely not from Lisa. 

‘Perhaps you’re a stronger person’, Alannah said with a warm smile. 

Funny, Gail thought, that’s exactly what her therapist had said.

‘So, I’ve only seen Holly here that one time. Lisa said she wasn’t sure how serious things were with you two’, Alannah trailed off, suddenly less confident.

Gail gave a bitter laugh. ‘Lisa would say that. She doesn’t think I’m good enough for Holly. I thought she’d given up on trying to find a more’, Gail made air quotes, ‘suitable girlfriend for Holly. But you meet all the criteria. A doctor, successful, a good income and attractive’.

Gail was ticking off Lisa’s criteria on her fingers, and when she got to attractive, the doctor started to blush. ‘And apparently you once had a thing for Holly’.

‘Oh’, said Alannah, ‘I’m not interested in Holly. Until I found out you two might be, well are, together, I was trying to figure out if it would be unprofessional of me to ask you out on a date’.

Gail’s eyes widened in surprise. She hadn’t picked up on that.

‘Oh’, she shifted awkwardly. 

‘So if you and Holly don’t work out’, Alannah smiled but left the sentence hanging. 

‘Um’. Gail didn’t know what to say to this, except she hoped she would never have to date anyone other than Holly ever again.

‘And Gail don’t worry about Lisa. Holly has never done anything Lisa tells her to do unless she wants to. It’s just easier to let Lisa think you’re going along with her’.  
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘It seems like I was barking up the wrong tree’ Elaine said to Gail as they made their way to the hospital cafeteria. Steve was settled in his new room and a nurse had come to wash him, so the two women had decided to go for coffee. Gail looked at her mother in confusion.

‘Sorry?’ she said.

‘Setting you up on all those dates with men. I was barking up the wrong tree’, Elaine said as if this was completely obvious from her original statement and she shouldn’t have to spell it out to Gail.

‘Umm’, Gail said, not sure how to respond. Was her mother making a reference to Gail’s mangled analogy about being a cat in a tree? How would she even know about that? Surely Holly wouldn’t have told her. She’d only spoken to Elaine briefly that day she came to get Gail from the hospital.

‘Is it just Holly or?’ Elaine now asked.

‘Umm’, Gail said again, wishing she was being even a little more articulate, and wondering how her mother had managed to avoid finding out about her thing with Frankie or that rookie from 27 who seemed okay until she got too interested in using her cuffs on Gail, not knowing that after being kidnapped Gail couldn’t stand being restrained. ‘No, I mean yes. It is just Holly now, but I’m gay’.

‘I thought you were just being attention-seeking when you told us that time at dinner’, Elaine admitted, ‘That it was just like your Goth phase’.

Gail had guessed as much. Her parents had been too busy talking to Steve about some case he was involved in to take much notice of her announcement. She remembered her mother saying with an exasperated tone ‘oh really Gail’, as if to say ‘what next’ and then returning to the conversation with Steve.

‘Well, I probably should have guessed’, Elaine now said, ‘the signs were all there. I’m pleased for you though. Holly seems very good for you’.

Very good for me, Gail thought incredulously, of course that would be Elaine’s yardstick. Not does she make you happy? Is she the love of your life? No, without a doubt Elaine approved of Holly because not only was she a doctor but a forensic pathologist no less working for the city, and a high achieving one at that, and she probably hoped that some of that ambition might rub off on Gail.

‘Although,’ Elaine continued, ‘if things don’t work out with Holly, I think Dr Barrett has her eye on you’.

Gail rolled her eyes.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Holly had said casual so Gail dressed in her favorite pair of skintight black jeans, combat boots, a grey t-shirt and red leather jacket. Gail smiled to herself. She knew Holly couldn’t keep her hands off her whenever she wore these particular jeans. If Gail wasn’t going to have a say in where they were going or what they would be doing on this date, then at least she could run a little interference. 

She went downstairs and found Chloe and Frankie in her kitchen. Chloe gave a low whistle when she saw her. ‘Looking good Gail’, she said.

‘Who you trying to impress Peck?’ Frankie was her surly self.

‘Oh, she and Holly are having a date tonight’, Chloe gushed, ‘now have you trimmed in all the right places and I mean all the right places’.

‘Geez, Price did you have to go there’, Gail twisted her mouth in displeasure.

‘Well you never know, Holly might want to go there so it’s best to be prepared’, Chloe said, her voice dripping with sweetness.

‘Ever the boy scout, Price’, Frankie laughed as Gail’s expression became even more contorted. ‘Don’t worry Chloe from memory Peck was always well-groomed’.

‘Really’, Gail said in disbelief, ‘okay, I don’t want to hear anymore. I’m leaving’.

‘Yeah, you don’t want to keep a girl waiting’, Frankie called after her, and, as she left, Gail heard Frankie and Chloe explode into giggles. When had those two become so thick, she wondered.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Holly was waiting by the curbside when Gail had pulled up outside Rachel’s place to collect her for their date. Her sports bag was by her feet and Gail knew exactly where they were going. Oh yes, she thought, I am going to pay.

‘Batting cages?’ she said as Holly got in the car, slinging the sports bag onto the back seat.

‘Now that’s why you’re a detective’, Holly teased, leaning over to kiss Gail on the cheek, ‘I need to teach you how to bat’.

‘I thought you already did that?’ Gail said innocently.

‘Taught you to bat?’ Holly furrowed her brow, clearly recalling their last visit to the batting cages where Gail gave a less than stellar performance on her one and only attempt to hit the ball.

‘Taught me to bat for the other team’, Gail clarified.

‘Oh, ha ha, very funny Gail’.

Now at the batting cages, Holly, having adjusted Gail’s stance, was attempting to demonstrate how to swing the bat. She had positioned herself behind Gail with her hands around Gail’s, which were holding the bat. Gail, however, kept leaning further back into Holly and was too busy enjoying the sensation of having Holly pressed against her to be bothered concentrating on the instructions. 

‘Will I not be considered a very good lesbian until I prove I can hit a ball?’ Gail deadpanned, suspecting she was going to be in trouble for not listening.

‘Oh, I think you proven yourself to be an exceptional lesbian in many, many ways’, Holly leaned in, her voice low and seductive, her breath against Gail’s ear. Gail felt a delicious shiver run through her body and wondered how long she would have to endure the batting cages before she could get Holly very naked back at her house.

‘So Gail, you know what to do?’ Holly asked.

‘Duh, yeah, its not rocket science Stewart’, Gail said, screwing up her face.

Holly just smiled. ‘Okay, I’m going to press the button’.

Gail gripped the bat tightly. Whatever she did she was determined not drop it this time. Before she could even blink the ball seem to be careering straight for her head, so she ducked down as low as she could and, yes of course, gave a girly shriek. She could hear Holly chortling behind her.

‘What was that?’ Holly exclaimed, barely able to get the words out between fits of laughter.

‘I’ll have you know Holly that particular ducking move comes in very handy when I’m dodging bullets’, Gail said, trying to salvage some dignity, ‘Anyway, Holly I thought you liked me and here you are trying to kill me again’.

While Gail was speaking, Holly had come back into the cage and now walked steadily toward her, not taking her eyes off Gail, who had removed her helmet and was now scowling at Holly petulantly.

‘Gail Peck you have no idea how much I like you. In fact I don’t just like you, I love you’, Holly said, a huge smile on her face. 

This time, Gail did drop the bat and, grabbing the front of Holly’s shirt, pulled her towards her and into a fierce kiss. Okay, so Holly picks weird places to drop the l word too, was Gail’s first thought, and then, this date isn’t turning out to be too bad. After that, it took very little for Gail to persuade Holly to abandon the batting cages in favor of what she termed, with a suggestive lift of her eyebrows, ‘much more fun exercise’.


	12. Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters etc…
> 
> Hope you like this.

It turned out that Holly had heard what Gail had said in the shower. Gail had asked on the way back from the batting cages, her voice a little shy, and Holly had nodded. So why not say anything Gail wondered and Holly explained that it was in case it was said under duress.

‘Under duress, what do you mean?’

‘Well not exactly under duress, but some might argue that you weren’t quite in your right mind at that particular moment,’ Holly smirked.

‘Is that so’

‘And I didn’t want to scare you up that tree by holding you to it.’

‘Holly, I love you, I really do, but’

‘I know you do,’ Holly interrupted with a lop-sided smile.

‘But you have to promise me one thing, can we stop using that mangled cat in the tree metaphor,’ Gail continued.

‘Too late Peck, you will always be like a cat to me.’ Holly laughed, and when Gail scowled, she said, ‘Okay, I promise.’

‘Anyway I wasn’t scared. I mean I was a little worried because you didn’t say anything but then I was fairly sure you felt the same way.’

‘And how’d you figure that?’

‘Well, you were so relieved when I got back from undercover, and you keep caring about me even when I’m doing something shitty like not telling you about Steve, then there’s the tattoo and in Chicago you told me you wanted everything with me which I guess is the sort of thing you’d usually say to someone you love.’ 

‘See, further proof of why you are a detective,’ Holly said.

‘Don’t make fun of me Holly, ’Gail whined but then conceded, ‘I guess it was pretty obvious wasn’t it.’ As Holly nodded, Gail speculated silently whether it was past rejections that had made her doubt the depth of Holly’s feelings. No, not exactly doubt she corrected, more like meant she didn’t trust herself to read the signals correctly.

‘And Gail, for the record, I don’t think I knew what love was until you.’ Holly’s tone was sassy but then she looked at Gail so earnestly and with a face so smitten that Gail wondered why she ever questioned whether Holly was as in love as she was. If anyone else had said what Holly just did, Gail would have called them a sap, but now she just felt like her heart was full of, she couldn’t put her finger on it. Elation? Happiness? No, it was full of joy and it struck her that, until now, this was an emotion that had largely been foreign to her.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘So when did you know?’ Holly asked, lifting her head so she could see Gail’s face.  
They were lying together in bed, Holly with her head resting just under Gail’s chin and Gail with an arm around her after what had turned into marathon sex. Holly had teasingly reminded Gail that she had wanted to take it slow, but Gail had just shrugged and said ‘life’s too short not to have sex with you Holly.’

From Gail’s attic room they could see the rooftops of the surrounding buildings and the shadowy tips of oak and maple trees outlined against a night sky lit by the glow of street lamps and light spilling from the few houses where people were still up at this late hour. The occasional sound of a car drifted up, the distant echo of a dog barking and sometimes the muted voices of passersby but their words were indecipherable. Here, enfolded in Gail’s arms, Holly had a sense of being cocooned, blissfully at a remove from the world outside, which seemed almost nebulous but definitely less real, less substantial than the world of feeling and touch and sensation they had created in this room. 

It occurred to her that this was the first time she had felt completely confident about letting herself love Gail. She had fallen hard for Gail that first time, even though she knew about Gail’s skittishness around commitment and her insecurities about opening herself up, but Holly thought she was different, they were different. Still she’d been careful not to spook Gail by letting her know just how much she meant to her. And Gail had run anyway and it left her devastated. 

When Lisa had told her to get out before she hurt Gail, Holly knew if anyone was going to have their heart broken it would be her. Back then, try as she might, she always had a sense they were on borrowed time. Then when Gail said she needed to stay for the adoption, it seemed easier and, Holly convinced herself, healthier to go to San Francisco rather than face the possibility of Gail’s rejection again. Safer not to risk another chance with someone who, by her own admission, was barely capable of an adult relationship. But now, now having acknowledged they loved one another, Holly felt none of that.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘See,’ Gail had said to Holly earlier, ‘much better exercise than the batting cages, admit it’ and Holly had laughed and finally agreed that it was much more of a workout. 

‘Remember that,’ Gail had told her, ‘when you next want to go to the batting cages.’ 

‘Oh no you’re not getting out of it that easily Peck, you still owe me’

‘Really Holly, did I not just make you come two, oh no wait three times and you’re saying I owe you,’ Gail said with confected outrage, ‘and judging from the noises you were making not one of them was just any old ordinary orgasm but premium quality.’

‘You’re insane, you know that right,’ Holly laughed and moved up to kiss Gail, but unlike the kiss in the coatroom, which had also been precipitated by Holly declaring Gail insane, this kiss was far from fleeting. 

As the kiss deepened, Holly shifted so she was now lying on top of Gail, and Gail moved her hand down to cup Holly’s ass and pressed her closer so she straddled Gail’s thigh. Holly moaned, and Gail thought triumphantly, oh yeah Stewart you totally owe me, before reversing their positions and running her hand up along the inside of Holly’s leg stopping as Holly pushed up into her hand.

She wasn’t really serious about Holly owing her because, at this moment knowing that Holly Stewart loved her, she felt like the luckiest person alive. For an instant Gail allowed herself to think that things in her life were actually going well, but then as Holly pulled her even closer that thought was replaced by the realization that right now Holly required her full attention.

After that they had gone downstairs to the kitchen to forage for food, Gail suddenly ravenous. Chloe had called out a cheery hello on their way past the living room, adding that there was leftover spanakopita if they were hungry, and Gail could only thank god Frankie had gone home. In the kitchen, Holly stepped into Gail, who was leaning against the counter top and very deliberately licking the last of the pie crumbs from her fingers, a move that Holly was very aware was entirely for her benefit. Holly marveled at the need to always be in such proximity to Gail. She had never felt this pull with any of her past girlfriends.

‘You’re intoxicating,’ she breathed. Before she worried she craved Gail too much, but now she knew Gail felt the same way she basked in the feeling.

‘Is that your way of saying I’ve paid my debt,’ Gail asked, looking up at her and Holly almost laughed out loud at the impish flash of wickedness in Gail’s eyes.

‘Gail, I’m not sure how you arrived at that conclusion. Doesn’t the number of times I just made you come cancel out my orgasm debt? Which means Peck,’ Holly concluded with a self-satisfied smile, ‘you still owe me.’

‘Jeez Holly,’ Gail huffed, ‘when did this become a competition. Anyway they don’t count.’

Holly titled her head to one side and gave a smile that sat somewhere between amused and incredulous, all the while wondering at the ridiculousness of the conversation but reveling in it nonetheless.

‘Oh really. Not even that last one, when I did that thing with my tongue you seemed to like so much.’ In fact Gail had said if she were to die right then and there, she would die a very, very contented woman, which Holly had said was rather morbid but Gail insisted was the highest compliment.

‘I think you might need to do that to me again so I can re-evaluate.’ Gail’s expression was solemn but the tone of her voice was playful.

‘Oh really?’ Holly raised an eyebrow.

‘Yes really, just to be fair,’ Gail tried to keep a straight face but began to smile, and taking Holly’s hand she led her out of the kitchen and back upstairs. Holly was laughing and Gail soon joined in. 

From her position on the sofa in the living room, Chloe reflected that she had never seen Gail this happy. She had spoken to Nick today though and he had told her something of the undercover job and Gail being held captive. Chloe felt she should broach this with Gail but wasn’t sure how, especially as she didn’t want to break the blissful bubble Gail and Holly were in. She wondered if Gail had told Holly but thought it unlikely.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Upstairs, Holly now looked at Gail and asked ‘So when did you know?’

‘Know what Holly?’ 

‘That you loved me’

‘Oh that,’ Gail said almost as if to downplay the importance of the revelation, but then continued more seriously. ‘Well maybe at some level I knew all along. I had never been so drawn to someone in my life before. I mean I don’t believe in love at first sight, that’s kind of sappy right, but I realize now there was always this feeling with you. But definitely the day,’ Gail hesitated before continuing, ‘the day of the Penny debacle, when I gushed to Dov about you, can you imagine that, me gushing.’

‘Oh,’ Holly said quietly, regretting once again how wrong things had gone that night, ‘We were both so stupid.’

‘But not anymore’, Gail smiled, lazily tracing patterns across Holly’s back with her hand. ‘What about you, when did you know?’

‘I felt myself falling for you pretty much from the moment we met. Well maybe not when you were being so officious and snarky in the woods, but definitely when you came back to the morgue and then I kept talking myself out of it, because apparently you were straight.’

‘Apparently,’ Gail laughed.

‘But I knew when I heard you might have been shot at and I couldn’t bear to think that something had happened to you, or the thought you’d go back out on the streets again, and then when you kissed me in the interrogation room, I knew I was in trouble.’

‘In trouble?’ Gail screwed up her face, not sure she understood what Holly was trying to say.

‘I realized it would be hard to be in love with you – back then I mean – you were so prickly about relationships, so busy putting up walls and then I didn’t know if you were just experimenting, it didn’t feel like it but I’ve been wrong about that before.’

At this Gail raised her eyebrows. ‘Sounds like a story you need to tell me some time.’

‘Nothing much to tell. I fell for a straight girl who said she’d fallen for me and two months later she went back to her boyfriend. Said she’d made a mistake.’

‘Bitch,’ Gail said.

Holly laughed. ‘I really don’t know what I saw in her. It wouldn’t have lasted anyway. She was always self-conscious when we went out and actually fairly closeted about the relationship. I was always amazed at how comfortable you were being with a woman for the first time.’

Gail shrugged, ‘It just felt right.’ Holly smiled and, pulling herself up, kissed Gail.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

They overslept in the morning of course and only woke when Chloe gave a tentative knock on the bedroom door. Holly had to borrow a shirt, which Gail thought hilarious because all her shirts were a little tight on Holly making it hard, as they got dressed, for Gail to keep her hands to herself. Holly had already banned shower sex for that morning on the grounds that there was no time.

‘And if I’m late Frankie will give me hell,’ Gail groaned, flopping back on the bed, ‘and she knows we were on a date so I hate to think what she’d say.’

‘Won’t she say it anyway?’

Gail barely made it. She was thankful Chloe had furnished both she and Holly with a coffee before they left the house, although she knew her pale face betrayed the fact that she’d had little sleep the night before. Not a great impression to make first day back after being undercover, Gail realized.

‘Hey Peck, good night last night?’ Frankie greeted her. Out of the corner of her eye, Gail saw Chloe nodding her head at Frankie as if in confirmation. What a traitor, she thought, immediately contemplating how she might get payback. 

‘Well I hope the doctor let you get enough sleep,’ Frankie continued, ‘because we’ve got two bodies in Rogue Park. You ready to go take a look?’

Gail nodded, immediately focused. ‘Who found them?’ she asked.

‘Oh the usual, someone walking their dog. Gerald and Larson were the first to respond so we better get out there to make sure they’ve secured the scene properly. Forensics are on their way.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It always amazed Gail how in less than half an hour you could be out of the city and in a wilderness area. Gail wasn’t the hugest fan of nature, but even she had to admit Rogue Park was spectacular, particularly now with the spring growth. Its extensive network of trails made it popular with hikers and joggers, and it seemed dog-walkers. 

As they pulled up on a track in the woods, Gail noticed that the forensics van was already there. Rodney was pulling on his tyvek suit and Gail had to suppress a smile when she saw Holly rounding the back of the van, red lunchbox in hand.

‘So Rodney’, Gail said, not bothering to greet either of the pathologists, ‘you’re a betting man, I know Detective Anderson enjoys a flutter, what’s say we have a wager on cause of death.’ Gail fixed both Rodney and Frankie with a smile so saccharine it bordered on menacing. 

Holly now had to suppress her own smile. So this was how Gail was going to play it. Her revenge would not be swift. No, she was going to draw this out. She’d make Rodney and Frankie squirm. Constantly reminding them that she had not forgotten about the bet and nor should they because at some point she would exact her revenge. It was genius really, thought Holly, because Gail never needed to actually carry out any retribution, instead the constant threat of it, the anticipation of it, was enough to mean Rodney and Frankie could never completely relax their guard around her.

‘No, no takers,’ Gail inquired innocently, ‘Rodney, it could be a chance to make-up your losses from San Francisco.’

Rodney gulped audibly and looked a little frantically at Holly and then quickly away. He was a very reserved man, cautious both at work and socially, and Holly was certain there was no way he would have agreed to a bet about whether she and Gail were having sex unless Frankie had coerced him, and she correctly guessed that he was now mortified not only by the bet but that she knew about it.

‘Ignore her. She’s just playing with you,’ Frankie told Rodney, but he looked unconvinced.

‘Oh you’re no fun Frankie,’ Gail pouted and then turned back to Rodney, ‘the victims aren’t going to know, I mean its not like you’re betting on your boss or anything.’ Gail finished with a shrug and another smile, and yes Holly knew she had to stop with the cat in the tree metaphor, but damn if that smile didn’t make her think of a cat toying with a mouse. 

Rodney stood immobilized, his face becoming increasingly red. Holly probably should say something to rescue him, but decided instead it was time to get to work. Maybe she should have a word to Gail about harassing her staff, well at least ask her to tone it down a bit, but actually she wasn’t too bothered because really Rodney and Frankie had asked for it. On the other hand, every time Gail brought up the bet, Rodney would remember that he had thought of his boss in this way, even if he had been certain she and Gail weren’t having sex, and his furious blushing would only serve to remind her. Holly wasn't entirely comfortable with that given he reported to her.

As Holly approached the cordoned-off crime scene, Officer Moore lifted the yellow tape to let her pass and said cheerily, ‘Morning doc’ and when she ducked under the tape she had the distinct feeling he was checking her out. Holly hadn’t realized Frankie was right behind her until she heard her say, ‘That is Doctor Stewart to you Gerald, and I suggest you keep your eyes to yourself unless you want Detective Peck to take your taser and use it on your junk.’

‘Yes ma’am’, Officer Moore sounded somewhat chastened.

‘What was that about?’ Gail asked, as she drew level with Frankie.

‘Nothing. Got keep him on his toes’. 

Holly meanwhile had made her way down to the two bodies. The setting in the woods reminded her of the crime scene where she first encountered Gail, although then it had been autumn. The bodies had been placed in a gully under a dark green tarp, which was then covered with a thick layer of forest litter. The tarp had been pulled back to reveal the upper half of both victims, so badly decomposed their faces were unrecognizable. She hoped each had some other distinguishing feature from which she could make an identification. Even from a glance, Holly could tell the bodies were in different stages of decay. 

The crime scene techs had arrived ahead of her and, as she waited for them to finish photographing the tarp, Holly looked around the gully and caught a glimpse of the same dark green beneath another mound of forest litter. Gail must have seen something at the same time. From her position at the top of the gully she called out, ‘H, ah, Dr Stewart, what’s that over there?’ and pointed to the same mound. 

Holly made her way over and clearing away some of the leaves and twigs and loose soil, found an identical tarp. This was not looking good. She had a grim feeling they had stumbled across a body dumpsite. She called one of the techs over to take photos and then with Rodney’s help carefully pulled back the tarp. 

‘Detectives,’ she called out, ‘I think you better come down and take a look at this’.

As Gail approached she could see the blonde hair and the ligature marks on the wrists and ankles of both women. Holly and Rodney would tell them for sure, but she would guess that neither had been dead for more than a few days. 

Holly was saying something. Gail heard the words dumpsite but nothing else. When Holly stopped speaking, Gail turned to Frankie and said so quietly it was almost a whisper, ‘why does it always have to be blondes’. 

It was then that Holly noticed how strangely Gail was behaving. It was as if she were somewhere else. Frankie placed her hand on Gail’s arm, which Holly thought odd, particularly as Gail didn’t like people touching her.

‘Are you okay?’ Frankie asked, her voice surprisingly gentle.

Gail shrugged off Frankie’s hand and ignoring the question said flatly, ‘I’ll go and talk to the dog-walker.’ She then strode up out of the gully towards a cruiser parked a little further down the track where Officer Larson was waiting with the dog-walker. Frankie made no move to stop her.

Holly looked on in bewilderment. What had just happened?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let you know this plotline is not about Perick or a Perick copycat – that has already been done, or is in the process of being done, really well by other writers in this fandom. As you’ll see in the next chapter, the similarities are there for the impact they will have on Gail. That’s not to say this crime won’t be solved.


	13. Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters.
> 
> Sorry for the delay in updating. I’m back at work and a few other things have been going on, making it hard to find time to write. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter. Apologies too if any of the forensic details are wrong – I really don’t have a science brain. 
> 
> Also a warning – there is mention of sexual assault in this chapter.

Once they got in the car, Frankie turned to Gail and said ‘You need to tell Holly.’

‘And you need to mind your own business Anderson,’ Gail snapped.

‘This is my business Gail, if it’s going to affect how you do your job,’ Frankie replied evenly, ignoring Gail’s outburst, ‘No one would judge you if you need to be taken off this case and reassigned to something else.’

Gail looked at Frankie stonily. ‘I am quite capable of doing my job. I can handle this case.’ Her voice was tight with anger. 

‘Okay,’ said Frankie, trying not to sound pissed off herself, knowing why Gail was behaving like this, ‘Can you handle watching the autopsies?’

Gail bit her bottom lip, ‘Yeah, yeah of course I can,’ she said, trying to sound surer than she felt. 

‘You could barley look at the bodies back there,’ Frankie pushed.

‘Frankie, they are not bodies,’ Gail said softly, ‘they are four women who had a life and a future and people who cared about them before some sick bastard did this.’ 

‘Yeah, and we have a responsibility to them to find that sick bastard, and it won’t help if you’re, ah,’ Frankie searched for the right word, ‘preoccupied.’

Detective Anderson,’ Gail addressed Frankie formally to emphasis her resolve, her tone icy, ‘I can do this. I’m a police officer. This is my job.’

The rest of the trip back to 15 was spent in silence. Normally they would be discussing the case, deciding what to do first while they waited on the results of the autopsies, talking about who would be needed to work on the investigation, and, even at this early stage, speculating about how the crime was carried out and who might be responsible. 

Gail was angry with herself for letting her guard slip. She hated to seem weak and more than that hated how vulnerable it made her feel. Those women back there deserved better than to have her falling apart. God, she’d probably only experienced a small part of the terror they went through. Part of her knew that Frankie was trying to be supportive, but Gail couldn’t help but bristle at the insinuation that she was unfit for the job.

Gail had discovered Frankie knew about Perick not long after they first slept together on the night of Andy’s wedding. Oliver had rather apologetically approached Gail with a request that came from higher up - probably her mother thought Gail – to be interviewed for a documentary about Canada’s serial killers. The filmmakers were falling over themselves to speak to the cop who survived Perick. Somehow Frankie got wind of this and, pushing her way into Oliver’s office, said ‘This is totally fucked up Oliver. You don’t have to do it Gail.’

‘That’s what I said too,’ Oliver replied calmly. His concern was evident but Frankie noted something else about his manner, which she recognized as sorrow. ‘Darlin’,’ Oliver said to Gail, ‘I already said it was unlikely.’

‘I, I can’t Ollie,’ Gail said quietly and Oliver saw how hard Gail was fighting to mask her anguish. He enveloped her in a hug and said gently ‘I know darlin’, I know. Don’t worry I’m going to put a stop to it.’

Oliver knew the stuff Gail’s nightmares were made of. He’d been there when Chris and Nick helped her out of the trunk of the taxi, the drugs still in her system making it hard for her to stand. He had seen the way that monster, even after being roughly cuffed and pushed facedown in the mud, had looked up at Gail, with a smile both sadistic and proprietorial as if she somehow belonged to him. Afterwards Oliver always worried that Perick had indeed taken a part of Gail as she became flintier and more hell bent on self-destruction. That was until Holly showed up and then things seemed to change. 

The documentary went ahead anyway with badly acted sepia-toned recreations of Gail’s abduction and incarceration in Perick’s basement. Gail only found out when she overheard some rookies’ gossiping about it in the break room. She didn’t know Frankie was standing behind her, until one of them, a conceited know-it-all called Pedersen, said ‘That’s probably why she’s a dyke.’ 

Frankie swept passed Gail and into the room, barking out, ‘on your feet rookies, the squad cars need washing.’ As the four stood up, grumbling, Frankie said ‘not you Pedersen, I’ve got another job for you’. She sent him dumpster diving. She’d noticed a particularly putrid one outside the apartment building where a murder she was investigating had occurred. After that, Gail knew Frankie had her back and no matter how obnoxious the detective was, which to Gail felt like most of the time, she considered her a friend.

Later Frankie told Gail it wasn’t exactly a secret in the force that it was Superintendent Peck’s daughter who had been abducted. Hard to keep that quiet given who her mother was and the notoriety of the case, and when they’d lost one of their own too. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Once they reached the station, Gail got to work searching the missing persons database, while Frankie went to speak to Oliver and Jarvis. She needed a dedicated team to work on a case this big, especially if, as seemed likely, they were dealing with a serial killer. As Holly had pointed out, there could be more dump sites and more bodies. 

Forensics required at least another hour to process the scene so it would be midday before Holly and Rodney would begin the autopsies. If Gail could find matches in the database for the two women who were under the second tarp it would speed up the identification process, which in turn meant they could get a start on solving this.

Trawling through the missing persons database was a grim task. Hundreds of people went missing in Canada each week. Gail tried not to think about what might have happened to them or of how close she came to being one of these women, reduced to a description, her photo in a database, along with her height and weight and any distinguishing features. Her body would have been discovered eventually, Gail thought. Perick’s narcissism, his desire for everyone to admire his handiwork, would have seen to that. 

At least Gail could narrow her search to blonde females in their early twenties. Holly had confirmed both women had only been dead for a few days so Gail began by looking for women reported missing in the past two weeks. She decided to confine her search to Toronto and then, if she didn’t come up with any results, to broaden it to include all of Ontario and then the rest of Canada. About forty minutes had passed when Chloe appeared.

‘Frankie asked me to help you with this. I’m on the team.’

Gail looked up from the computer screen. She wondered whether Frankie had asked for Chloe or if it had been Oliver’s decision to assign her to the case. Chloe’s perpetual happiness seemed to affect Frankie even more than it ever had Gail, yet last night they were all chummy and giggling in her kitchen. She wasn’t sure what to make of that. 

‘Who else?’ Gail asked.

‘Dov and Andy, and that new guy from 27, Detective Kennedy but Frankie said we may need more people once we know what we are dealing with,’ Chloe replied, ‘But Gail will you be okay with this. I mean it could be hard for’

‘It's fine,’ Gail cut across Chloe, too wound up to appreciate that her meddling was well meant. ‘Here, these are the women we’re looking for’. Gail turned back to the computer and pointed to two photos taken at the scene. 

The women had only been dead for a few days but already their bodies were slightly bloated and had a greenish tinge indicating they were in the first stages of decay. 

‘They were dumped naked,’ Chloe sighed. 

Gail nodded ‘So we can’t identify them from the clothes they were wearing and if they had any jewelry that’s been stripped too.’ 

‘So whoever did this wanted to cover his tracks?’

‘Yeah, but look at this Chloe’, Gail pulled up a photo from the database, ‘It could be a match with the woman on the left, couldn’t it’.

Chloe leant in to get a better look. ‘Could be. Susan Phelps,' Chloe read the name from the database, ‘she has the same small birthmark on her left cheek as the victim’.

Gail nodded again, ‘And her parents have supplied her dental records so it should be easy for forensics to work out if she is one of the victims.’

By the time Frankie reappeared, Gail and Chloe had found two possible matches for the second woman. Frankie was impressed.

‘That was fast. We’ve been given an incident room for the investigation. The others are waiting for us there. Are you up to doing the briefing with me Gail?’

‘Yeah,’ Gail screwed up her face, ‘of course.’ She realized she’d take Frankie’s spitefulness over this solicitude any day.

The incident room consisted of desks and computers and a meeting table. Frankie had pinned up photos from the crime scene on a large board. Using a thick red marker she had written serial killer and a question mark above the photographs. 

‘I’ve put a question mark next to serial killer, but we’re fairly certain that’s what we’re dealing with here,’ Frankie said, ‘Dr Stewart believes the first two women were probably dumped in the woods anything up to two months ago. She’ll know more once the autopsies are completed. The other two were probably dumped in the last week. The fact that both sets of bodies were concealed under identical green tarps strongly suggests there is a connection between these murders. Again we’ll know more after the autopsies, but Dr Stewart says the second two were strangled.’ 

‘Any idea who they are?’ Kennedy spoke up.

‘As you can see the first two bodies are too decomposed to make a facial match, we’ll have to rely on forensics and their sorcery, but Gail and Chloe have made some progress with the other two. Gail,’ Frankie said, indicating Gail should take over. 

Gail bit her bottom lip and then took a deep breath. When she exhaled her face was completely composed when moments before the tension in it was palpable. Her game face, thought Frankie, knowing Gail was using it to mask her fragility. Frankie wondered if she was doing the right thing letting her stay on the investigation.

‘It looks like we’ve got a match with a Susan Phelps. Reported missing by her parents five days ago. They gave us her dental records so I’ve sent them to forensics. It’s hard to tell because of the bloating, but it’s possible the second one is either Gina DeMarco or Joy Bannister, both missing for the past week. Joy was reported by her parents, Gina by her sister’ As Gail spoke, she pinned photos of the three women on the board. 

‘Am I imagining it or do those three women look almost identical,’ Dov said.

‘Yeah, they are very similar’, Frankie agreed, ‘but lets not get sidetracked by that until we get confirmation on the identities. Gail have we got dental records for Gina and Joy?’

‘No,’ Gail shook her head. 

‘Okay, Dov and Matt can you speak to the families, see if we can get hold of the dental records. Also find out if either woman ever broke any bones and if there are x-rays. Just say that at this stage we want to rule them out. We don’t want to upset the families unnecessarily. Chloe, Andy you may as well come with Gail and I to the morgue. Not much we can do until we identify the bodies.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Holly and Rodney had already begun the autopsies. The women were laid out side by side on two metal slabs. One had a Y incision that ran across from each shoulder and then down the length of her torso. Holly and Rodney were in the process of removing her major organs and weighing them. Out of the corner of her eye Gail noticed that Andy looked a little green. She never could handle autopsies, Gail thought and, despite the circumstances, couldn’t help but feel a little smug. 

Gail was fourteen when she sat in on her first autopsy. No Peck had ever fainted during a post-mortem, or so Elaine claimed, and she was determined that Gail wouldn’t be the first. The smell of the rotting corpse had been overwhelming. Gail had felt the bile rising in her throat and wanted desperately to avert her eyes as the pathologist carved up the body, but the presence of her mother stopped her. She knew it was a test. So she remained still, taking in everything the pathologist was doing, knowing her mother would quiz her on it later. 

By the time Gail entered the Academy, she was so accustomed to autopsies they no longer made her feel squeamish. However, now as she looked at the two women and saw again the marks on their wrists and ankles where the ligatures had been, Gail fought the urge to flee the room.

She realized Holly was speaking. ‘Susan Phelps’ dental records match those of this victim, so we decided to autopsy her first.’

‘Okay, once you’ve finished the autopsy, we’ll get her parents in for a formal identification.’ Frankie said, and then turned to Gail, ‘Good pick up.’ Gail gave a curt nod in response.

‘We’ve done an external exam on both women,' Holly continued, ‘and as I suspected both were strangled. Can you see the bruises and abrasions here round Susan’s neck.’ Holly pointed to the area just below the woman’s jawline. 'They indicate she was throttled or manually strangled. See these disc-shaped bruises - they were caused by pressure from fingertips. These slightly larger bruises towards the center of her neck are thumb marks. The other victim has similar marking.’ 

‘Any fingerprints?’ Frankie asked hopefully.

‘No. The bodies were washed with a disinfectant. He’s even cleaned beneath the fingernails. There is evidence both women were sexually assaulted but no sign of any semen. It’s possible the perpetrator wore a condom but again he sluiced the vaginas. With sexual assault you’d hope to find something like a foreign pubic hair or even fiber from clothing that we could match with the perpetrator but there’s nothing.’

‘So this guy was careful not to leave any forensic trace.’ Frankie said.

‘Oh yeah. We can thank shows like CSI for that,’ Holly replied drily, ‘everyone knows not to leave any DNA’

‘So it was definitely premeditated,’ Gail spoke for the first time, her voice soft. 

Holly looked directly at her, but Gail didn’t make eye contact, instead her gaze remained fixed on the corpse in front of them. Holly couldn’t figure out what was wrong with Gail, but there was a remoteness about her. It wasn’t that she was preoccupied exactly because she appeared to be listening intently to what Holly was saying, but somehow she seemed disconnected from the people in the autopsy suite, including Holly herself. Holly wondered whether it was something about this case that was bothering Gail. 

Then again, this was the first time the two of them had worked together since Holly’s return to Toronto and perhaps, Holly speculated, the remoteness was Gail’s attempt at maintaining a professional distance. Yet in the past she’d never felt the need to act like that around Holly at work. Although, Holly had to admit, out of the two of them it was always she who blurred work and personal boundaries by dragging Gail into interrogation rooms to make out or flirting at crime scenes.

‘Yeah, this guy knew what he was doing,’ Holly said, realizing the group was waiting for her to respond to Gail’s question. ‘The fact that he used his hands to strangle them suggests he was bigger and much stronger than the women. He didn’t need a ligature.’

‘If someone is tied up they are incapacitated, helpless. You don’t have to actually be that strong to kill them.’ Gail said flatly, and for some reason Holly got a strong sense that Gail was referring not just to this case. 

‘True, except the amount of bruising around their necks suggests he used a lot of force, like he was in a rage. Also despite being tied up, these women struggled. You can tell by the petechial hemorrhages.’

‘What are they?’ Chloe asked.

‘Burst blood vessels,’ Gail said.

‘Yes, more or less’, Holly gave a slight smile, impressed Gail knew this. 'When the airways are obstructed it increases pressure on the veins in the head, which causes the capillaries in the eyes and outer eyelids to rupture. Can you see these red spots in Susan’s cornea – they are known as petechiea. The more someone struggles during strangulation the more likely the capillaries will rupture and leak blood into the cornea or skin. In some cases of asphyxiation, usually in hanging deaths, you see petechiea on the lips and face, although it looks more like a rash.’ 

Normally Gail would have been charmed and amused by Holly’s total nerd-out, but now she could only focus on one thing. A struggle meant the two women were conscious when they were throttled and knew exactly what was happening to them, and they fought to live even when death was certain. She had a sudden flashback to the moment she thought she was about to die when in an instant panic was replaced by disbelief and then by absolute terror, and finally by the chill realization that no one was coming to save her and there was nothing she could do to fight back. With a start, Gail brought herself back to the present.

‘So if they struggled, does that mean it was unlikely they were drugged?’ she asked.

‘We won’t know for sure until we get the blood test results. It’s possible he drugged them in order to abduct them, but given it appears they put up a fight, yes its likely the sedative would have worn off’. 

‘We need to get this bastard’. Even though Gail spoke softly, Holly was struck by how vehement she sounded.

……………………………….

Once they got the preliminary results, Frankie, Gail and Chloe returned to the station, to allow Holly and Rodney to complete the autopsies. Andy was left behind to observe, and Gail briefly wondered whether Frankie had done this on purpose, given it was impossible not to notice how queasy the officer looked. 

The other two autopsies would be performed the following morning. It was already well into the afternoon, and Holly knew, given the advanced state of decomposition of both bodies, they'd need a full day for the autopsies. She didn't want to call in another pathologist to assist, because she thought if she and Rodney examined all four bodies they would be more likely to pick-up the similarities and, just as importantly, any variations in the way each woman was killed. 

Holly didn’t see Gail again until two hours later. She was taking a break, standing in the corridor and stretching her back and neck muscles, which were cramping after hours spent bent over the autopsy table, when she observed Gail leading an elderly couple out of one of the viewing rooms. She assumed they were Susan Phelps’ parents. They looked dazed but it was Gail’s sorrowful expression that registered with her. A few minutes later Chloe appeared to tell her that the Phleps had confirmed that the victim was their daughter.

‘Is Gail alright?’ Holly asked Chloe.

‘As much as she can be under the circumstances,’ Chloe made a sympathetic face and looked at Holly as if she should know what she was talking about. Before Holly could ask, Chloe said hurriedly, ‘I have to go, Gail’s waiting for me with the parents. We need to interview them back at the station’. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Holly delivered the final results of the autopsies in person, partly in the hope she might see Gail. Again using dental records, she had established that the other victim was Maura Lees. When she got to the station just after 8pm, Frankie was the only one of the team still there.

‘I sent them home. It's been a long day’, Frankie explained, ‘I thought it best to start fresh in the morning. Now we’ve identified Maura and Susan we’ve got something to work with.’

‘Detective Anderson, ah Frankie,’ Holly said, ‘What’s going on with Gail? I can tell something about this case is getting to her.’

‘Ah, that’s, I mean what gives you that idea?’ If Frankie’s evasiveness wasn't enough to convince Holly that something was up with Gail, the way she refused to look Holly in the eye confirmed it.

‘You see, I’ve been thinking about this all day, ever since we looked under that second tarp, and I realize this case reminds me a little of the Perick murders. I autopsied some of his victims and I know they were also blonde and they had also been tied up. And I remember back then hearing that he took an undercover police officer who survived, so my question, well it's not really a question because I think I know the answer. Gail was that police officer wasn’t she?’

Frankie nodded, her face grim, and suddenly it all made sense to Holly. 

‘I really should take her off the case,’ Frankie said, unusually sounding slightly apologetic.

‘Have you asked Gail if she wants out?’

‘I gave her the option.’

‘That’s the worse thing you could do,’ Holly tried not to sound angry, ‘Gail would hate you or anyone to think she couldn’t do her job.’

‘But can she, given what’s she’s been through? I mean I don’t want her to go all Peck on us and act like she’s completely unaffected by this, you know like she’s some kind of automaton.’

‘If anything, knowing Gail, that experience will make her even more determined to catch who ever did this.’

‘I hope you’re right Holly.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

In the dream she was in the forest with Perick. There were four bodies. All were women. All of them were blonde. Perick was dragging a large green tarp to cover them and shouted at Gail to help. She tried but found she couldn’t because her wrists and ankles were tied. He came right up to her, his face inches from hers. He was panting from his exertions and every time he exhaled she was could feel his foul breath on her face. He lowered his voice and said ‘this will be our little secret Gail. No need to tell anyone. They won’t understand anyway.’

She woke feeling stiff all over. She had fallen asleep on the sofa. The dream still clung to her and she unconsciously rubbed her wrists were Perick had bound her, and then touched the faint scar on her forehead. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what the dream meant. She needed to tell Holly. Gail and her therapist had discussed how by refusing to talk about Perick, she allowed him to still have power over her. She needed to change that. Frankie was right. How could she do her job if she was still haunted by Perick? And her therapist was right. How could she have a proper relationship with Holly if she was keeping this secret from her? God, even her subconscious agreed with them. 

Gail stood suddenly and grabbed her car keys. From the kitchen she heard Chloe call out, ‘where are you going?’ 

‘Just out,’ Gail replied, before opening the front door to find Holly making her way up the porch steps. Holly stopped once she reached the porch and was face to face with Gail. 

‘Oh hey,’ Gail said a little awkwardly, ‘I was, I was just coming to see you.’

‘I know,’ said Holly, and from the look on Holly's face, Gail knew immediately what she was referring to and it wasn’t the fact that Gail had been on her way to see her.


	14. Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters
> 
> Sorry for the delay in the update. Life has been busy and thrown up some difficulties of late. However, this is the longest chapter I have written so far. I had a day off yesterday and was supposed to do my tax return, which is very late, but who wants to do tax when you can write about Gail and Holly. 
> 
> Hope this chapter doesn’t disappoint. I could wind this up after this case, although I have a few other plots I could also pursue. Apologies for any mistakes – proofing your own work is always challenging. A warning there is mention of rape in this chapter.

‘I didn’t want it to define me,’ Gail said, trying to explain to Holly why she hadn’t told her about Perick, ‘I didn’t want you to look at me like I was a victim.’

They were sitting on the patio outside Gail’s room. It was big enough for two chairs and a small table and to Holly’s surprise a planter box with some annuals just starting to flower. The evening was unseasonably warm for spring, and Gail had suggested going outside because she figured it might be a more neutral space. Beside Chloe was still downstairs, and had looked a little anxious when she saw Gail and Holly’s somber faces as they came in from the front porch.

When Holly said she knew about Perick, Gail had nodded and replied ‘Frankie told you.’ It was more a statement than a question.

‘No,’ Holly had replied, ‘I worked it out myself’.

‘Figures,’ Gail said, ‘you are such a nerd.’ The playfulness of her words belied her nervousness. 

Gail felt she could trust Holly with her whole self yet she hadn’t. She had kept this broken part of herself hidden, afraid it would sit like a weight between them, coloring forever the way Holly saw her and, even though she knew better, a very small part of Gail feared it might be the thing that finally pushed Holly away. At the very least, based on how Holly reacted to the Ford shootings, it would make Holly more afraid for her. Gail took a deep breath and said ‘I need to tell you things you might not want to hear.’

So Holly had heard those things and felt her heart break again and again. It was like a physical hurt, at once both heavy and somehow hollow, and it left her with a desperate longing to go back in time and stop this terrible thing happening to Gail, impossible as that was. Now hearing that Gail had doubts about how she would react, Holly felt her heart break a little more. She couldn’t help but think it was the fault of all those people in Gail’s life, starting with her parents and right down to Chris and Nick, who made her reluctant to trust. 

‘Gail,’ she said, wanting to reach across the table and take her hand, but resisting because she sensed Gail didn’t want to be touched. ‘Being abducted is always going to be a part of who you are, whether you told me or not, but its just one part. It doesn’t define you. You are so much more than that to me.’

Gail looked at Holly doubtfully and then dragged her top teeth over her bottom lip. Vulnerable, she looks vulnerable, thought Holly, realizing that it was partly this, the vulnerability that was threaded through the snark and the attitude that had first drawn her to Gail. Back then she had been so captivated by Gail, so caught up in falling for her, Holly hadn’t fully understood how rare it was for Gail to show this side of herself or what it said about their relationship that she was willing to let her guard down. 

‘And I don’t see you as a victim,’ This time Holly did reach for Gail’s hand, ‘I see you as someone who did something incredibly courageous to catch a serial killer and stop more women being abducted. You are very brave.’

‘Or crazy,’ Gail interrupted, but didn’t remove her hand from Holly’s.

‘No, brave.’ Holly was adamant. ‘You put your life on the line and even after being abducted, you keep going out there, doing your job, protecting other people. To have the strength to do that makes you extraordinary.’ 

‘But I’m a mess,’ Gail said, and Holly could hear the self-loathing in her tone and see it in the way Gail twisted her mouth in disdain. ‘I couldn’t concentrate on my job properly today because I kept thinking about Perick, and I still can’t catch a taxi by myself’

Ah, thought Holly that explains it. She’d always thought Gail was being petulant when she refused to take a taxi.

‘You know a big reason I went home with Frankie after Andy’s wedding was because I didn’t want to get in a taxi by myself,’ Gail continued, thinking well at least that night had confirmed that it wasn’t just Holly but women she preferred to have sex with. ‘And I have nightmares where I’m back in that basement.’

‘I’ve never noticed the nightmares.’ Holly said, deciding to concentrate on that rather than the fact of Gail having sex with Frankie.

‘Yeah, you sleep like the dead Holly’, Gail gave a small, rueful smile. ‘Although, I usually sleep better when you’re there.’ She wondered if this admission made her seem weak. ‘I keep a loaded gun in my bedside drawer when I sleep alone. That’s not normal.’

‘Under the circumstances, yeah I think it is’, Holly said gently, even though she hated guns and hated the thought of Gail sleeping with one next to her. ‘I’m guessing that’s something you’re working on with your therapist.’

Gail nodded.

‘Gail, the fact that you are making a good life for yourself is proof that you’re not letting this define you. You let yourself love and be loved, and to care, to do what is right. They’re not the actions of someone who is a mess or a victim. Everyday you defy Perick and people like him, who try to destroy anything that has meaning, by living a life that does have meaning. So no, this doesn’t define you.’ 

As Holly spoke she thought it was possible Gail might be intending to run again and she would need to persuade her to stay. If Holly’s words had worked, as she intended, to reassure there was no sign of it in Gail’s reply. In a voice laced with sadness, she said ‘But today, when Susan Phelps’ parents came to identify her body, they asked me if she’d suffered and I didn’t know what to say.’ 

Gail had known the Phelps were searching for some comfort, a tiny positive to weigh against the evil visited upon their daughter to make their grief bearable. Yet she had frozen, unable to think of a single word of reassurance, because she of all people had some idea of just how much their daughter had suffered. Finally Chloe had spoken. ‘We can’t know for sure, but hopefully it was quick’, she said and in that moment Gail looked at her with as much gratitude as Susan’s parents did. 

‘Even if her death had been quick, it’s what came before.’ As Gail spoke she looked straight ahead, seemingly at a distant point in the darkness, but Holly sensed she wasn’t conscious of her surroundings. ‘The helplessness as you lie there trying not to think about what he is going to do to you, trying not to give in to the certainty that you are going to die but then not being able to shake that terrible thought that death might be preferable to what he plans to do to you before he kills you.’ 

‘Oh, honey,’ Holly said realizing Gail was no longer referring to Susan but to herself. ‘Do you want to be taken off the case? Would that help?’ Holly asked, hoping Gail didn’t think she was questioning whether she could do her job.

‘No’, Gail shook her head. ‘What sort of detective would I be if I have to pick and choose which cases I take. No, I feel like I owe it to these women to do what I can to find out who did this, because Holly this could have been me.’

Holly didn’t want to think about that, about how Gail easily could have been Perick’s next victim, her broken body laid out on a slab in the morgue and how it may well have fallen to her to perform the autopsy. She couldn’t bear to imagine how close she came to losing Gail before she had even met her. 

In the moment it took to suppress that thought, it was as if Holly’s breath had been sucked away. She had believed she knew exactly what Gail meant to her, but in that instant Holly truly grasped just how precious Gail was and, even though in the past she had scoffed at the notion of meeting ‘the one’, she realized with absolute certainty that Gail was the love of her life. There could never be anyone else. Not now. Holly understood then that losing Gail could destroy her. 

‘You don’t need this Holly, a high maintenance girlfriend. Bet you didn’t realize just how fucked up I am,’ Gail said bitterly, withdrawing her hand from Holly’s and standing abruptly. ‘I’d understand if you want to leave, if this is too much, cause you didn’t sign up for this.’

They’d talked about this, Gail and her therapist, about the pushing away. How people always left Gail and how in leaving they confirmed to Gail everything she feared about herself. She was not good enough, a disappointment, not the girl-friend type, not a good daughter or a worthwhile friend. So she pushed people away and chose partners who were never going to stay anyway, when deep down, as Leslie had made her realize, all Gail wanted was to be known and accepted and loved for who she was. 

‘Yeah, I did, I signed up for this,’ Holly stood and faced Gail but didn’t reach for her, again not sure if she wanted to be touched. ‘You’re not doing this to me, Gail you’re not pushing me away again. I left once before and I’m not going to again.’ 

Gail looked at Holly with an expression that was in equal parts mystified and relieved. Every time she had given someone an out, a reason to leave, they had grabbed it with both hands and never glanced back. Not Holly. Even when Gail had told Holly things she usually kept buried away because the telling of it was too hard and the horror of it betrayed just how damaged she was. No, Holly was staying. No one else had been willing to fight for her. To say she was worth the trouble. Not even Olivia, the architect, who wanted so much more than Gail could give and who Gail might have loved but for Holly. 

‘All you’ve done since we got back together is help me deal with my shit,’ she said quietly. ’You’ll get sick of that eventually.’

‘Firstly, it’s not all I’ve done, and secondly we talked about this at the hospital - helping each other deal with the crap life throws at us is what you do when you’re in a relationship. You do the same for me.’

‘You’ve kind of all worked out Holly. You never seem to have any dramas.’

‘Yeah right, put me on a pedestal. I’m the one with the bitchy friend. I already owe you big time for looking out for Lisa. But Gail, you get me. Most people are put off by my job and I guess I can be kind of weird. I mean look at me. You know how socially awkward I can be, I ramble and I get so caught up in my head I misread what’s going on around me and –

‘But those are the things I love about you,’ Gail interrupted, ‘Well not Lisa, but she’s your friend and I know she just wants what’s best for you so I can tolerate her.’

‘See,’ Holly smiled, ‘That’s what happens when you love someone, you make allowances.’ This time Holly stepped towards Gail, who let her take her hand to bring them closer together. ‘So, I guess you go back to the therapist, you talk about this case and how its bringing up what happened to you. And you talk to me anytime you need to, and I mean that, anytime.’

Gail gave a small, uncertain smile, and Holly felt doubt for the first time that evening.

‘That’s if you want me to stick around, because Gail I want to, you have no idea how much but if –‘

At this, Gail took a step toward Holly and bringing her hands up to cup her face leaned in to kiss her gently. ‘Of course, I want you to stick around, nerd,’ she said softly and then wrapped her arms around Holly to pull her into a fierce hug. 

She had never liked to hug anyone before Holly. Hugging had felt stifling, even suffocating, and Gail always felt a little panicky when pulled into an embrace, her skin prickling uncomfortably. Not with Holly. Hugging Holly felt warm and safe and like home, and not for the first time since she’d met Holly Gail wondered how she had become such a sap and why she didn’t mind.

Now as they stood with their arms around each other, they were still and quiet, the physical presence of the other a tangible reassurance. For Gail it was the fact of Holly’s staying and for Holly it was in having Gail here, now, not lost to Perick, not claimed either by death or the demons in her head.

‘We should go to sleep,’ Holly said finally, pulling back slightly from Gail. ‘Its been a long day.’

‘Oh, God, you must be exhausted,’ Gail said, at once feeling dismayed that she had been so consumed by her own problems, she hadn’t thought that Holly would be worn out after performing two autopsies, with two more scheduled for tomorrow. 

‘We both could do with some sleep,‘ Holly said, noticing the slight chill that had settled in with the late hour, and reaching for Gail’s hand, she led her back inside. 

In the morning, when Gail woke with Holly curled tightly around her, she marveled at how peaceful her sleep had been and how having Holly’s body pressed against her like this felt as natural as breathing. 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

When Holly woke a little while later, she kissed Gail gently on the lips and then slowly kissed and touched her way across and down Gail’s body, her close attentions almost worshipful, an affirmation of all Gail meant to her. Then Holly brought herself back up to face Gail and this time the kiss was harder, full of love and lust and intent, and as she moved her hand between Gail’s legs, she smiled at Gail’s moan and at how wet she was. Afterwards Gail could not recall ever feeling so loved.

Later when Holly got to her office, she locked the door and let the tears come, the tears she held in last night because she didn’t want her own sorrow to add to Gail’s. She cried for Gail, for all the things that had been done to her, not just Perick but all the hurts and betrayals. Holly cried because she had not fought harder for her the first time or the second, choosing San Francisco over Gail, and as the tears began to lessen Holly vowed to always make Gail remember she was her first choice.  
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

It took another six days to identify the other two women as Alison Carlsen and Elena Davidson. Holly had to call on a forensic odontologist to help with the identification because the bodies were so badly decomposed that their teeth had become loose and fallen out, making it hard for her and Rodney to make a comparison with the dental records. The odontologist was able to match individual teeth with Alison and Elena’s dental records, and compare what the x-rays showed of the skeletal structure around the teeth with the jaw and sinuses of each of the women. It was painstaking work, although Holly was thankful they hadn’t needed to do facial reconstructions. That would have taken weeks, evens months. Once the forensic odontologist was confident he had a match, just to be sure Holly brought in Alison’s sister and Elena’s brother to do a DNA comparison.

Given the state of the bodies, it also took time to establish the post-mortem interval. However, as the bodies had broken down, they had leaked fatty acids from muscle and fat into the ground, so the forensic team was able to analyze the soil collected from beneath the bodies to determine time of death. But it was slow work. They estimated Elena and Alison had been killed about three weeks ago and their bodies dumped not long after. The forensic entomologist concurred. She had based the time of death on the age of the insects and larvae present in the bodies or what was rather macabrely known as ‘time since colonization’. The term had at least amused Gail. 

Holly concluded that Alison and Elena had been killed and dumped at the same time, as had Susan and Maura Lees, her companion in the forest grave. Which, as Frankie pointed out to her team, either meant the killer was kidnapping two women at the same time or, as seemed more likely, he was keeping at least one captive before he killed both of them. 

If Frankie was frustrated by the slow progress forensics was making, she didn’t let it show. She did, however, let slip to Holly that she’d noticed how Gail seemed back to normal. 

‘She talk to you?’ Frankie asked and when Holly nodded in confirmation, she said ‘Good’ and then moved on to discussing the case. Holly supposed she would have to like Frankie because in her own irascible and off-hand way she cared for Gail and, when everything had imploded, she at least was there for Gail.

It did seem Leslie, Gail’s therapist, was right. In telling Holly about Perick, Gail had diffused the hold he still had on her. It was like a weight had been lifted from Gail. It wasn’t just opening up to Holly that caused this shift, Gail realized, but Holly’s calm acceptance, her insistence that this changed nothing in the way she felt about Gail or how she saw her as a person.

Gail still had the nightmares but each time she immediately woke Holly, something Holly made her promise to do, and each time Holly had simply held her until she felt calmed and able to sleep again. Since finding out about Perick, Holly had spent every night at Gail’s house. The previous morning, on her way out of the hospital after a visit to Steve, Gail had run into Lisa who couldn’t resist a jibe. 

‘Have you kidnapped Holly, Peck? We saw more of her when she lived in San Francisco.’

‘I didn’t realize Holly needed a permission note to leave the sorority house’

‘Ha, very droll, Peck. She’s always been a sucker for a blonde in distress,’ Lisa drawled, making Gail stiffen until she realized that by distress Lisa was referring to Steve being in hospital, ‘and throw in sex and there’s no holding her back.’

‘Lisa,’ Gail said, in a solemn tone, her face serious as if she was about to make a statement of some importance, ‘I think you need to get laid.’

To Gail’s surprise Lisa had laughed as if highly amused, ‘I think you’re right Peck.’

The exchange had left Gail feeling slightly guilty. Was she taking up too much of Holly’s time? Were her needs making Holly neglect her friends? When Gail mentioned it to Holly, she smiled and shook her head, saying ‘Ignore Lisa, it’s generally the best course of action. I’m right where I want to be.’  
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

It was late in the day and Frankie was feeling frustrated. She had gathered the team together to review the case. It was exactly one week since the dog walker had stumbled across the dumpsite and they could find little to connect the four women. They had interviewed friends, family, and colleagues and chased up dozens of fruitless leads and turned up nothing. No mutual friends or exes. None of the women belonged to the same clubs or even followed the same sports teams. Their occupations couldn’t have been any different. Susan Phelps had worked as a nurse and Maura Lees, who was dumped at the same time as Susan, was a lawyer. Of the other two, Alison Carlsen was a student majoring in commerce and Elena Davidson was an aspiring actress who waited tables to pay the rent. 

They lived in different neighborhoods and had attended different schools. In fact only three had grown up in Toronto, Elena having recently moved from Vancouver after a failed relationship. All four had lived alone, which could be significant, although so far the team hadn’t been able to establish how. Only two other things seemed to link them – their age –between 22 and 29 - and their appearance. All were blonde and blue eyed, although even then Elena and Susan had long hair, Maura had a bob and Alison’s hair was cropped short. 

‘Actually they look a lot like you, Gail,’ Matt said and it was as if the room froze. Without looking up, Gail was aware all eyes were on her as the others waited for her reaction. She heard Chloe suck in a breath. Clearly Matt was one of the few cops who didn’t know about Gail’s abduction and she recalled he’d transferred to 27 from Vancouver not that long ago before coming over to 15.

‘Matt, don’t tell me you’re one of these guys who think all blonde haired, blue-eyed women look the same’ she said after a moment, but there was no bite in her tone, and she observed Andy, Dov, Chloe and Frankie visibly relax.

‘No, no’, Matt held up his hands in mock surrender, ‘never.’

‘You’re right though, I guess there is a resemblance,’ Gail allowed.

‘Maybe,’ Dov ventured, ‘we should be looking at other women who look similar who’ve been reported missing. There could be more victims we don’t know about.’

‘It might be worth a shot,’ Frankie agreed, ‘but a huge task. It could be like searching for a needle in a haystack. You know how many women go missing in Canada each week, Dov. Lets give this another day. Tomorrow we’ll go through the evidence again – all the interviews, all the information we’ve gathered – systematically. There has to be a connection we’re missing. So bring fresh eyes in the morning, which means I don’t want anyone drinking too much at the Penny tonight.’ 

At this everyone groaned. It was Frankie’s birthday and Chloe had organized drinks at the Penny, which had surprised Gail given how much Frankie hated birthdays. Last year, Gail had gone over to Frankie’s place with a bottle of tequila, and they’d ended up doing body shots and a lot more besides. In fact it was the last time Gail had slept with Frankie. After that Frankie seemed to get a little clingy, and Gail thought it best to keep the relationship platonic. 

This morning when Gail had asked Holly if she wanted to come to the drinks, Holly had also expressed surprise.

‘Frankie doesn’t seem the type to celebrate birthdays.’

‘No, she hates them,’ Gail said.

‘What did she do last year?’ asked Holly, and Gail immediately blushed and cursed her fair skin. ‘Oh, I see,’ Holly said a little coolly, ‘you two had sex.’

Gail bit her bottom lip and nodded. ‘Ah, it was the last time.’

‘I kind of forget you and Frankie used to have sex.’

‘That’s probably a good thing. I try to forget it too.’ Gail gave a nervous laugh. She wondered how she’d react if she ever met any of Holly’s exes, the idiots giving her up. Oh that’s right, she’d been one of those idiots.

‘So, you know how she claims to give women the best sex of their lives,’ said Holly, sounding a little unsure, ‘did you, was it like that, I mean you don’t have to tell me, but’

‘Oh god, Holly,’ Gail rushed to interrupt her, ‘do you even need to ask that question. I mean the sex we have, there’s no way anything could be better than that.’

‘So that’s a no?’

‘Absolutely,’ Gail smiled and pulled Holly into a fierce kiss. 

When Gail was late for work that morning she didn’t feel the need to apologize to Frankie. Or to explain that she’d spent the last two hours proving to Holly how absolutely sensational sex with her could be. She had a feeling Frankie might have guessed from the smile on her face.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Holly was already at the bar when Gail arrived at the Penny and, to her annoyance, she was talking to Jen Luck. Gail wondered briefly about her chances of spitting in Jen’s drink again but quickly dismissed the thought because she was trying to be a bigger person, or so she told her therapist. 

Holly didn’t appear to be contributing much to the conversation. She had the look of someone trying to be polite but desperate to make a break for it. Of course Jen wouldn’t pick up on that, thought Gail, which was why she’d always be a uniform. Holly smiled as Gail approached. One of her huge, loving smiles that made Gail feel like the only person in the room. Jen whipped her head around to see who had caught Holly’s attention, and when she saw Gail her scowl was almost as large as Holly’s smile. 

‘Hey,’ Gail said looking only at Holly.

‘Oh, look it’s the chicken police,’ Jen said, and Gail thought it really was about time the officer got some new material because that epithet really was wearing thin.

‘Officer Luck,’ Gail said icily.

‘We’re having a private conversation, go scratch in the dirt somewhere else, Peck.’

Gail raised an eyebrow, ‘With lines like that it’s a wonder you ever get lucky, Jen’. She was going to really enjoy telling Holly about Luck’s clumsy attempts to pick her up not once, not twice but three times. ‘Luck by name but hapless by nature.’

Gail smiled, one of her dangerous smiles she reserved for people she thought idiotic or base and occasionally Elaine. Holly was well aware that you never knew what was coming next. Gail might toss out a snarky put down or become mean and vindictive, or simply stalk off. She placed a hand on Gail’s arm in a gesture of restraint. So Holly wanted her to play nice, thought Gail. Well, she could deal with this insufferable woman on her own then.

‘I’ll leave you two to get better acquainted, ‘ Gail said in a tone syrupy with insincerity.

As Gail sauntered off, careful to give an extra sway to her hips for Holly’s benefit, Jen spoke up. ‘I didn’t think we’d get rid of her that easily. You know her whole family is corrupt and she’s a bitch, frigid too.’

‘Officer Luck,’ said Holly, trying to keep the edge out of her voice, mindful she had to work with the woman. She was already irritated by the fact that Jen hadn’t left her alone since she got to the Penny, despite her cool response to Jen’s overtures, and that was before she had made this comment about Gail. Now Holly felt livid.

‘Please call me Jen.’

‘Officer Luck, Gail is my girlfriend. I don’t think she is a bitch and I wish I didn’t have to share this with you, but she is anything but frigid.’ And with that Holly turned on her heel and went after Gail, completely missing Jen’s gulp of surprise.

Gail was seated at a booth with Frankie, Chloe, McNally, Traci and Chris. Matt apparently had been dispatched to fetch drinks. As Holly slid in next to Gail, she whispered ‘that was mean.’

‘I hadn’t even got started. Jen deserves far worse if only for that lame chicken police line,’ Gail pouted.

‘I wasn’t talking about that. I meant abandoning me with her.’

Gail laughed and then, pulling Holly towards her by her shirtfront, kissed her for longer than was perhaps appropriate in front of work colleagues. Maybe she would tell Holly about the backwash in the wine as well.

‘Feeling a little possessive, detective?’ Holly asked, who in truth was feeling a little dazed by the intensity of the kiss. 

‘No,’ said Gail, ‘Just wanted to leave Luck in no doubt about who you’re going home with tonight.’

After Matt returned with the tray of drinks, Traci asked Holly if she’d had any luck apartment hunting. Matt joined the discussion, regaling them with stories of the over-priced dumps he’d checked out while looking for a place when he moved from Vancouver. Chris, Andy and Chloe were deep in conversation about Nick being promoted to detective and how he had moved in with Juliette.

‘I’m glad he’s finally found someone who is good for him.’ Andy said, and the other two nodded in agreement. While Gail was happy for Nick, she couldn’t help but bristle a little at the criticism implicit in Andy’s comment, even if it was unintended. Gail knew she hadn’t been good for Nick, but then he hadn’t exactly been great for her.

‘He told me he’s going to ask Juliette to marry him,’ Chloe said breathlessly, and Gail wondered at the wisdom of sharing this piece of information before Nick actually popped the question. She really didn’t have the energy for all this bubbliness tonight. Frankie must have felt the same way because she asked Gail if she wanted a game of pool.

‘Sure,’ Gail said, knowing as she got up that Frankie, being something of a pool shark, would beat her. At least winning might put Frankie in a better mood, she thought. The first time they played and Frankie trounced her, Gail had asked sardonically if being bad at pool meant she wasn’t a very good lesbian. Frankie had looked at her weirdly and Gail couldn’t help but think Holly would have laughed. 

As Frankie racked the balls on the pool table and then positioned the cue ball to take her first shot, Gail looked idly around the room. She noticed Jen Luck sitting hunched over the bar with Wes and wondered what misinformation she was feeding him about her and Holly. She was relieved she’d never felt desperate enough to sleep with Jen. 

She saw that Dov was seated at a table with one of the new rookies. Her name was Anna and she’d caught the eye of most of the single men at 15, who, to Gail’s horror, had put bets on which one of them would sleep with her first. Chris had told her and she was pleased to learn he wanted no part of it. 

As Frankie continued to sink ball after ball, Gail’s attention turned to a large bulletin board on the wall next to the pool table. A flyer with the words FindLove and a bright logo showing two hearts intertwined caught her eye. For some reason it looked familiar and she pulled it off the board. As Frankie finished her turn, she leant over to see what Gail was looking at.

‘Social events for the under 30s,’ Frankie read out, ‘Jeez Peck, I thought you and Holly were happy or is there trouble in paradise.’

Gail rolled her eyes. ‘Anderson, its for heterosexuals.’

‘Well, maybe you and Holly want to spice up your sex life. Wait. You’re not looking for a baby daddy are you?’

‘Oh shut up,’ Gail said, pinning the flyer back on the board, and picking up the pool cue to take her turn.

When she and Frankie returned to the booth after Frankie had once again thrashed her, Gail was surprised to see that Dov was still talking to Anna and hadn’t joined their group. When she looked across at Chloe, the redhead ducked her head slightly and Gail realized she’d been watching her watch Dov.

‘What’s up with that’, Gail asked quietly with a small jerk of her head in Dov’s direction.

‘He’s just being an ass,’ Chloe sighed.

‘Do you need me to talk to him?’

‘No, I think I might enjoy being single again for a while.’

It was then that it hit Gail. Turning to Frankie, and not caring that she was mid conversation with Traci, Gail said excitedly, ‘Frankie, that’s the connection, they all had recently broken up with their boyfriends.’

‘What Peck?’ Frankie asked, clearly not following Gail’s train of thought, ‘All their exes checked out.’

‘No, no not the exes. What if all four women used a, I dunno, dating service, and that’s how they met this guy.’ 

‘I guess its possible.’

‘You know that flyer I was looking at. I knew I’d seen it before. There was one stuck on the fridge in Susan’s apartment.’

Frankie was on her feet. ‘We need to take a look at their computers and phones again. See if they used the same service. Matt, go get Dov.’ 

As Gail, Chloe and McNally stood, Frankie turned to the remaining three at the table, ‘Holly, Traci, Chris, sorry. I don’t like birthday celebrations anyway.’ 

Gail leant in to kiss Holly, ‘Sorry to abandon you again.’

‘I might head back to Rachel’s, if that’s okay.’

‘Sure, just so long as you don’t go home with Jen Luck.’ Gail said drily.

‘Don’t even joke about that Gail.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Three hours later, Frankie, Gail and Chloe found themselves in a midsized bar downtown that had been newly fitted out with recycled timber wainscoting and mismatched furniture, including low sofas with brightly coloured cushions. The sort of place that tried to pass itself off as hipster but packed in as many bodies as it could and charged exorbitant prices for the drinks. Gail bet they were watered down too. It was here that FindLove held one of its ‘social gatherings’ every Tuesday night. 

Dov was whipping himself for not picking it up when he first went through the computers, but at least three of the women had used FindLove. The team hadn’t recovered Alison’s phone or iPad and was still waiting on a warrant to access her data via her service provider. However, Maura had an email notifying her of an up coming FindLove event, and a search of their browsing history revealed both Susan and Elena had logged into the FindLove site. It was enough for Frankie to make a phone call to the proprietor of the dating service.

Sandra Cookson was perky in a way that made Chloe look positively subdued. In her late 30s, her shoulder-length hair was dyed a coppery shade and clearly straightened, and she favored a lot of eye make-up and gold jewelry, including a row of bangles that clinked together noisily as she waved her hands about expansively.

‘Some people don’t like the anonymity of the internet,’ Sandra was explaining, ‘you never know who you’re really talking to, it could be a serial killer for all you know.’ Realizing what she’d said, she laughed nervously before continuing. ‘You get what I mean. People don’t always tell the truth on line. They touch up their photos. Lower their age. Inflate their income. Some people prefer meeting potential partners face to face. So that’s where we come in. We organize social events for singles to meet and mingle, no pressure, no expectations.’

‘Are they always here?’ Frankie asked.

‘Every Tuesday yes, but we also have a Thursday night at a bar in West Queen West. Sometimes we have extra events at different venues. It might be a club, a restaurant or a visit to a gallery. We’ve even organized picnics.’

‘And roughly how many attend’, Frankie said, looking around at the handful of people left in the bar at this late hour. 

‘No more than 80 - 40 women, 40 men. Members sign up on-line to each event on a first come first served basis.’

‘So how many members do you have in total?’ Gail asked.

‘Oh, thousands. Not everyone attends regularly. Some drop off when they meet their special someone.’

‘Do you do any vetting when new members sign up?’ Gail inquired.

‘Um, we don’t really have the resources for that. I’ve never had any complaints though, about anyone behaving badly or being creepy.’

‘So these guys here seem fairly young,’ said Chloe, indicating a group at the bar who looked to be barely twenty, ‘what demographic are you aiming for?’

‘The under thirties is our niche’, Sandra said brightly, before turning to Frankie and Gail and saying ‘we have nights for gay ladies too.’

Frankie was momentarily dumbstruck. Gail realized Sandra was way more perceptive than she had thought. She smiled sweetly and said ‘Oh, Detective Anderson’s too old for your niche, and well my niche is very singular and it’s taken care of.’ Frankie shot her a glare and Gail just smiled back at her. 

‘So, would you be able to supply us with a list of the events the four women attended, and the names of all the other members who were there?’ asked Frankie, having recovered herself.

‘Sure, it will take a bit of collating, but I can get my admin staff to help in the morning, unless you need it tonight?’

‘No, tomorrow morning’s fine. By the way, is there a surveillance camera in this bar?’

‘Not that I know of,’ Sandra said.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

By lunchtime Sandra had furnished them with the lists and they spent the rest of the day crosschecking names, looking for men who had attended the same gatherings as all four women. The women had all only joined FindLove in the past few months, which at least meant they hadn’t attended a huge number of these events. 

By 6pm that night, they had narrowed the names down to three - Mike Jeffries, Aaron Schmidt and PJ West. Frankie asked Matt and Andy to check if any the venues used by FindLove had surveillance video, and set Dov to work digging up background information on Aaron, Mike and PJ, while she took Gail and Chloe with her to interview the three men.

Mike Jeffries seemed genuinely alarmed when told they were investigating the murders of four women. He’d just returned from two weeks holiday with his new girlfriend, which at least put him out of the timeframe for Susan and Maura’s murders. 

Aaron Schmidt’s leg was in a full cast and his arm was also broken - the legacy of a motorcycle accident four weeks earlier. A pretty boy, Aaron’s arrogant air indicated he was well aware of his good looks. He had tried flirting with Gail and even called her blondie, which had left her deeply unimpressed. She did take some satisfaction in the fact that his were the type of boyish looks that didn’t work well on men as they aged. 

‘So you went out to find a date with a broken arm and leg?’ Gail asked incredulously.

‘They’re going to heal. It’s not like a disability,’ Aaron said defensively, ‘I mean, what else am I going to do. Sit at home and be miserable. I’d rather find myself a hottie.’

Much as she’d like to arrest him, Gail had to admit he was unlikely to have committed the murders, unless he had some help. At this stage though, all the forensic evidence pointed to this being the work of one man.

As soon as PJ West opened his apartment door, Frankie and Gail realized he was transgender. That didn’t mean he couldn’t have raped the women. Holly had found no trace of semen during the autopsies and Gail made a note to ask if it was possible some other object had been used. He was a little man and Gail wondered if he would have had the strength to subdue the women, given there were signs they had put up a struggle. Even his hands were small, which didn’t fit with the large imprints on Susan and Maura’s necks. 

What ruled PJ out though was his work schedule. He was a train attendant for VIA Rail on the Toronto to Vancouver route, a round trip that took nine days, four on the train each way and one day layover. He was working at the time the women had disappeared.

Frankie, Chloe and Gail returned to the station a little deflated. The elation of finally getting a breakthrough was replaced by the sinking feeling that this was just another dead-end. As Gail went to make herself a tea - herbal as a concession to the late hour – Andy appeared.

‘Frankie wants us back for a briefing,’ she said.

Gail nodded ‘Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.’ When Andy made no move to go, Gail sighed and said ‘What is it, McNally?’

‘Gail, you know how we were talking about Nick at the Penny. I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t good for him.’

‘But I wasn’t McNally.’

‘Yeah, well me neither. But you and Holly are so right together I kind of forget that you and Nick were ever a thing. I mean you and Holly are sort of perfect.’

Gail wasn’t quite sure how to respond to this. It felt like the verbal equivalent of an Andy hug.

‘And Nick and I, well especially me, we shouldn’t have done that to you.’ Andy continued.

‘Water under the bridge,’ Gail shrugged. ‘I’m happy for him. He and Juliette are good together.’ 

In the incident room, Frankie was looking anything but happy. 

‘Neither of the bars had surveillance inside’, she was asking Matt.

‘Nope, only at the front and rear of the premises. I’ve got the footage to go through. It’s a big job, even if we do know the date of the FindLove events.’

‘The gallery they sometimes use as a venue had surveillance,’ Andy piped up, ‘but the cameras are trained on the artworks in case someone tries to steal or vandalize them, so you only see the people standing near the works.’

‘Okay. It’s worth looking at though. Tomorrow we need to go through the footage and the FindLove lists again. See if we’ve missed anything.’

‘The next FindLove event is tomorrow night. Should we send someone in undercover?’ Matt asked.

Frankie paused for a moment. ‘Yeah, I think we should.’

‘Well, Peck’s the obvious choice,’ Matt said turning to look at Gail, ‘seeing as she looks a lot like our victims.’

Again the room was quiet and again Gail felt all eyes trained on her. She blew out a breath. ‘Yay, I guess it's me then,’ she said.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………


	15. Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters
> 
> Again sorry for the delay in updating. Life really is just too busy and demanding. This is the longest chapter I have written so perhaps that will make up for it. I have a feeling that at the moment I will probably only be able to update about every two weeks. 
> 
> I proof this myself so apologies for any typos or mistakes. Anyway, hope you enjoy. I'm always really pleased to get your comments and thoughts.

Gail was standing alone in a small clearing in the forest. It was in that hour before dawn when the light was nearly blue and the air still, almost suspended, as if in wait for something to begin, for some catalyst to break the tranquility and start the day. Gail heard a noise behind her and recognized it as footfalls. She turned and saw Perick walking towards her, dressed in a prison orange jumpsuit.

He was intoning something over and over like a mantra, but she couldn’t make out the words. As he drew closer, she realized he was saying, ‘Two by two, two by two Gail. You need to bring a companion.’

Gail was not surprised to find Perick in the clearing. She didn’t even think to question how he had escaped prison and managed to get here or even how he knew she would be in the forest.

When he reached her, Perick stopped and said, ‘This will be your final resting place. I’ve chosen a beautiful location for you.’ He indicated a spot beneath a maple tree on the edge of the clearing where the earth had been freshly dug to form a shallow grave. His voice was soothing, almost unctuous, and Gail imagined it might be how a funeral director would speak to the recently bereaved.

‘Unless they find you, and dig you up.’ He clapped his hands suddenly. ‘Oh, that would be delicious. I wonder if your doctor friend will enjoy caressing your body as much when she performs the autopsy,’ Perick said. He reached out and ran a hand down the side of Gail’s face. Gail flinched then, but didn’t move. She felt rooted to the spot. Not sure what was holding her there.

‘But you need a companion, Gail,’ Perick’s tone changed to one of annoyance. ‘Go back to the bar. Make sure she’s blonde and has blue eyes.’ He started to laugh maniacally.

Gail woke. She sighed heavily. Screw Perick and screw her subconscious. It was the first time Holly had figured in one of the nightmares. Gail could guess what that signified. Although it was interesting the dream annoyed rather than frightened her. Perhaps that at least was a good development, she thought.

It was early. Barely 6am. They hadn’t finished up until nearly one last night and Frankie had told everyone to come in late. She wanted them fresh for the undercover op. Gail stretched. Her head felt fuzzy from lack of sleep but she was too alert to even doze now.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gail welcomed the cool rush of the water as she plunged into the pool. She had taken up swimming because of a bad back, but kept it up because she found it meditative. Holly still thought it faintly amusing that Gail voluntarily exercised, although she did appreciate the extra muscle definition it had given her girlfriend. Not that Gail had swum much since Holly got back to Toronto. It was extremely difficult to get out of bed when Holly was in it, and then Gail had been working back late most nights because of the case.

Celery had told Gail she took to swimming because she was a water sign, if you believed that astrology stuff. Gail had discovered that as she counted the laps, soothed by the rhythm of her breathing and the repetition of the stokes, her mind calmed, the thoughts competing for attention slipping almost effortlessly into some sort of order, given the right proportion and weight.

It was not working that way this morning. All she could think over and over was that she needed to speak to Holly about the undercover operation and that Holly was not going to like it. Strangely she felt more nervous about telling Holly than about the actual op. In fact she felt surprisingly calm about going undercover.

When Matt had said she was the obvious choice to go undercover at the FindLove event, Gail had already resigned herself to this inevitability. Over the past week, the more Matt kept mentioning her resemblance to the victims and the more the others avoided talking about it, the more Gail realized it might come to this.

What had surprised her though was that as soon as she said, ‘Yay, I guess it’s me then’, Andy and Chloe had rushed to say ‘I’ll do it’, speaking over the top of each other in their haste to offer themselves in her place.

‘I could dye my hair blonde,’ Chloe suggested.

‘Yeah, me too,’ Andy said.

Gail had regarded them dubiously. ‘Really, I don’t think you two could pull off blonde. Anyway neither of you have blue eyes.’

‘Gail, you don’t have to do it,’ Dov spoke up, the concern evident in his voice, ‘does she?’ He turned to Frankie.

The detective waited a moment before she spoke. ‘No, no, I wouldn’t expect that of you Gail,’ Frankie said finally, looking directly at her.

‘Can someone tell me what’s going on,’ Matt interrupted, looking from person to person and then settling his gaze on Gail.

‘You’ve heard of Ross Perick?’ Gail said, her face impassive and her voice even. She guessed she should be grateful to her mother for teaching her how to school her features to give nothing away.

‘The serial killer, yeah, of course,’ Matt said, and then it was as if the proverbial light bulb went off in his head, ‘Oh, you’re the officer he took.’ As Gail nodded, Matt’s curious expression turned apologetic.

‘Can all of you stop looking at me like you’re kicked puppies,’ Gail huffed, ‘I’ve been undercover since then. I’ve just come back from a successful undercover op. You don’t need to treat me like I’m gonna break.’

‘Okay everyone, can you give Gail and I five minutes,’ Frankie said.

As the others filed out of the room, Gail rolled her eyes. ‘Dramatic much, Anderson.'

‘I need to know you’re okay to do this. One week ago you could barely look at the bodies. I wasn’t even convinced you should be on this case.’ Frankie sighed, the usual brittleness absent from her tone.

She hadn’t told Gail about the visit she received from Superintendent Peck on day two of the investigation, demanding to know why her daughter was still on the team. Frankie had never responded well to bosses who tried to push her around and it angered her that Elaine Peck, who barely spoke to her daughter, believed she could interfere in Gail’s life. Now she couldn’t be sure if part of the reason she was keeping Gail on the case was to aggravate the superintendent. Frankie trusted Gail when she said she could handle undercover, but what if she was making the wrong call. She just hoped her judgment wasn’t clouded by her friendship with Gail.

‘That was a bad day, the day we found the bodies,’ Gail said, ‘I’ve been focused ever since. All I want to do is get this bastard, and if that means going undercover I’m okay with that.’

‘We have other options. You’re not the only blonde at 15.'

‘Yeah, but the only one who looks like our victims. Anyway Frankie, I know the case. It make sense that it’s me.’

Finally Frankie had agreed. Calling the others back in, she outlined her plan for the operation. Gail would go undercover at the Findlove event but with Matt, Chris and Anna Robinson, the rookie Dov had been flirting with at the Penny.

‘Robinson doesn’t exactly look like our victims,’ Frankie had said, ‘but at least she‘s blonde and blue-eyed. ‘

Gail noticed Chloe look across at Dov before the redhead turned back to focus on Frankie.

‘Matt, Diaz and Robinson will keep tabs on Gail and also see if anyone is watching her, taking an excessive interest without actually approaching her. Dov, lets see what we can do about getting vision in the bar without alerting anyone who works there. We can’t rule out the possibility that one of the bar staff is our perp. Gail will be wearing a wire so if we don’t get vision at least we can hear who she’s speaking to.’

‘What about Chloe and me?’ Andy asked, ‘We could be in the bar.’

‘You’ll be in the surveillance van with Dov and me. I know there were only a couple of stragglers left at the bar last night, and that the FindLove event is at a different venue tomorrow, but I don’t want to run the risk of someone recognizing me or Chloe, even if she wasn’t in uniform. If needed though, we’ll go into the bar.’

Frankie didn’t need to spell it out. If needed meant if the operation went to shit and they’d be needed in the bar as backup. Frankie was at least thankful she had the foresight to tell Chloe to wear plainclothes to the bar the previous evening, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that they were police or that they were investigating FindLove.

‘What if they recognize Gail?’ Andy asked, ‘She was with you too’.

‘I won’t be wearing my combats boots and jeans,’ Gail said, a little snarkily. Andy looked at her blankly, so Gail explained very slowly, almost as if she were speaking to a small child, ‘you remember what I look like in a dress, McNally. Lots of make-up, my hair done-up.’

Andy nodded, ‘Oh, I guess you do look very different.’

‘Okay, this is going to be interesting,’ Matt said, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress, Peck.’

‘Well, it’s hardly practical for a detective, Kennedy. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen you in a dress either,’ Gail gave Matt one of her fake smiles.

‘Okay, very funny,’ he said.

So now Gail had to break the news to Holly. The pool was not far from Rachel’s place and, after showering and changing, Gail decided to try and catch Holly before she left for the morgue. This wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have in either of their workplaces.

Rachel answered the door when Gail pressed the buzzer. She had an overnight bag and looked as if she were about to head out.

‘Conference in Montreal,’ Rachael explained after greeting Gail, ‘Holly’s having breakfast – just through there.’

She indicated a door that led from the small foyer where they were standing into an open plan room, with a breakfast bar separating the kitchen from the living area. Gail hadn’t actually been inside Rachel’s apartment before. So far Holly had always stayed over at her house. While she suspected Holly was quite happy to have a break from Lisa, Gail thought it was mainly for her benefit so she could avoid Dr Boob Job.

Holly was perched on a stool at the breakfast bar, idly chewing on a piece of toast while reading a journal article. Her glasses, which she wore because she was shortsighted, were on the counter top. Gail loved seeing Holly like this, so engrossed in a task, so caught up in her enormous brain that she became oblivious to everything around her. There was something of the absentminded professor about her, thought Gail leaning against the doorjamb. It was adorable. Then as she watched Holly put down the toast and run a hand through her hair, giving it a little shake so it fell in long waves down her back, Gail felt her mouth go dry. Holly was so ridiculously, effortlessly sexy.

‘Hey,’ she said.

Holly looked up and a huge lop-sided smile broke across her face. ‘Hey, what are you doing here?’

Gail didn’t reply. Instead she pushed herself off the doorjamb and walked across to Holly and leant over and gave her a lingering kiss, pulling her bottom lip between her own. The need to always touch Holly, the constant physical pull to her, was something Gail had never really experienced with anyone else. It was hard to be in the same room with Holly without giving into the desire to place her hand in Holly's, to run her fingers down her back or along her arm, to feel those astonishingly perfect breasts, to cup her face and kiss her and tug Holly close.

‘Did you miss me detective?’ Holly asked as they pulled back from the kiss. The way Holly said detective, just like she used to say officer, drawing out the word, her voice low and sultry and teasing was normally enough to set Gail’s thoughts running to how she might get Holly naked, but not this morning.

‘I just need to talk to you about something,’ Gail said, trying to keep it light. ‘I was at the pool so.’ She broke off, not sure how to continue.

‘Are you checking to make sure Jen Luck’s not here?’ Holly teased.

‘I thought we weren’t allowed to joke about that, Holly.’

‘She’s so hapless you have to laugh. Her cluelessness is kind of amusing,’ Holly replied, ‘So how many times did you turn her down?’

‘You worked that out,’ Gail asked, unable to stop herself smiling a little at Holly’s powers of deduction.

‘It was the comment about you being frigid that tipped me off.’

‘She said I was frigid,’ Gail said, screwing up her face in disbelief.

‘Don’t worry, I set her straight,’ Holly replied sassily.

‘If only that were possible, Holly.’ Gail said drily and then kissed Holly again. This time Holly pulled her in closer so Gail standing between her legs. Part of Gail knew she was allowing herself be distracted to avoid explaining to Holly the real reason she was there, but it didn’t stop her from leaning in again for another kiss.

Until Holly, Gail hadn’t believed you could get lost in someone’s kisses. Lose all sense of time and place and just be in this moment where all that mattered were Holly’s soft lips and the sensation of her tongue against her own. Then the feeling that she was sinking into Holly, wrapped in an aroma of vanilla and cinnamon that was so uniquely Holly, her skin sensitive to every touch, every caress, the moans coming from both of them heightening Gail’s arousal. Holly pressing against her in a way that was at once almost too much and not enough and somehow just right, and the world became simply this, just the two of them, all else forgotten.

As Holly slipped her hands around Gail’s waist and then underneath her shirt and up her back, Gail heard one of the most annoying sounds in the universe.

‘Ugh, you two, seriously get a room,’ Lisa said as she made her way past to the front door. She was dressed for work. At least her patients knew where their money was going, thought Gail, taking in the designer suit and heels, and a chunky diamond ring and matching earrings. Gail rolled her eyes. Not that Lisa would notice because she was determinedly avoiding looking at the two women, but Holly had a faintly amused smile.

‘Have a nice day, Lisa,’ Holly called out but Lisa didn’t reply.

‘I believe Lisa thinks I’m bewitching you with sex.’ Gail said sotto voce as they heard the door slam.

Back when Lisa stayed that week with Gail, she had pronounced that Holly and Gail were a ‘thing’ because of the sex. When Gail, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice, said ‘What’, Lisa replied, ‘Holly told me, it’s the best sex she’s ever had.’ Gail had been incredulous. ‘Holly talks to you about me and sex’, she said. Lisa had shrugged, ‘She’s one of my best friends. I have to listen to that stuff.’ It seemed though that this was the only explanation Lisa could come up with for why Holly would choose to be with Gail, even if she was now a detective.

Now Holly laughed. ‘Remember what I told you about Lisa?’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Gail rolled her eyes again, ‘just ignore her.’

‘Much as I would like you to bewitch me with sex right now Gail, I have an early meeting.’

‘Oh’ Gail said, looking down at the floor, biting her lip. She stepped back from Holly to allow her to get up off the stool.

‘Hey, how did things pan out with that dating service?’ Holly asked as she stood.

‘Well, that’s the thing,’ Gail said, and then stopped because she couldn’t think what to say next.

‘What’s the thing?’ Holly looked at her quizzically.

‘That’s the thing I need to speak to you about. Turns out the four women all used FindLove. It has events for singles to meet, and so um, there’s one tonight and we need to check it out because all the other leads have been a dead end,’ Gail finished in a rush.

‘And so because you have a resemblance to those women you’re going undercover,’ Holly said sharply.

Sometimes, Gail thought, it was a kind of a pain that her girlfriend was so smart. ‘Yeah, but it’s not like that Holly.’

‘So what is it like, Gail?’ Holly asked, her tone cool, her posture suddenly stiff.

So Gail explained how Frankie had set things up so she wasn’t the only one going undercover and how four of them, including Frankie, would be watching from a surveillance van parked outside the bar.

‘Didn’t you get the same assurances when you went undercover in the Perick case,’ Holly said.

This made Gail pause for a moment. ‘It’s different this time,’ she insisted, ‘I’m more experienced.’

‘How can you even think about doing this? You still have nightmares about Perick.’

Gail didn’t know how to respond to that. Holly was right about the nightmares. The remnants of the one that woke her this morning still clung to her. It wouldn’t surprise Gail to know Holly sensed that.

‘I can’t believe Frankie would agree to this. A couple of days ago she wasn’t even sure you should be on the case,’ Holly said, sounding exasperated.

‘What do you mean Holly?’ This time Gail’s voice held an edge.

‘Nothing, forget it.’

‘You discussed if I could do my job with Frankie,’ Gail said quietly, her body very still. Holly knew from experience that the softness of Gail’s tone and her motionlessness was not a sign of placidity or calm but rather meant that Gail’s mood was dangerous and unpredictable.

Holly sighed. ‘I was worried Gail. We both were. You were acting so strangely after we discovered the bodies. You weren’t talking to me.’

‘But I did talk to you that night. And I’ve spoken to Frankie. She at least believes me when I say I can do my job.’

‘Gail,’ Holly drew out her name. ‘I know you can do your job. It’s just that this case is too similar to Perick. And you were drugged with ketamine in Vancouver. You can’t help but be reminded of your own trauma – because that’s what happened when Perick took you, you were traumatized - and you’re still working through that. I don’t understand why you’re pushing to go undercover.’

‘I’m not pushing,’ Gail said icily, regretting that in the spirit of full disclosure she had finally told Holly the whole story of the undercover operation in Vancouver. Now she felt like Holly was using Vancouver against her.

In fact when Gail explained how that undercover op had ended, Holly had been mortified that she was too drunk that night at the Penny to notice anything off about Gail. Mainly though, she was concerned that Gail had once again been drugged and held captive. Sometimes, Holly had thought, it did seem that the universe didn’t want to cut Gail a break. .

This was the first real disagreement they’d had since getting back together and Gail didn’t know what to make of it. It startled her how quickly things had escalated to this standoff. She hadn’t anticipated that Holly would react this way. She thought she would be anxious, just like in the interrogation room the day of the Ford shootings, not flinty and unyielding.

‘So what are you trying to prove, Gail?’ Holly asked, her voice quiet and resigned.

‘Nothing, I’m not trying to prove anything, Holly, I’m just doing my job.’ Gail was aware she was worrying at the bottom-lip again and that this was hardly likely to reassure Holly.

Holly sighed heavily. ‘I need to get to my meeting.’

‘Yeah, whatever,’ Gail shrugged.

She turned to leave and then turned back again because in that instant she recalled what Holly had told her about that day in the morgue when Gail had appeared with the thumb. How Holly had to steel herself to maintain her composure, to not let Gail in, because even though she had a new girlfriend she was still hurting because of Gail. She didn’t want Gail to realize that she thought about her all the time and that her presence in the lab was upsetting the very fragile equilibrium she had struggled to maintain ever since Gail walked out on her at the Penny. So Holly was hard and cold when really deep down all she wanted to do was take hold of Gail and kiss her and keep her close. Gail remembered this and turning back to Holly, she took a step towards her.

‘I get it Holly,’ she said, ‘you’re scared for me. But I’m much more experienced at undercover now and I trust Frankie to have my back. Sometimes my job can be dangerous but I can promise I won’t do anything risky or foolhardy.’

‘Gail, I can’t lose you,’ Holly finally breathed her greatest fear.

Gail took another step towards Holly and pulled her into a hug, relieved when Holly didn’t resist the embrace.

‘You are not going to lose me Holly,’ she said firmly, ‘it’s a low-risk operation. I’ll be surrounded by other police officers in the bar and under constant surveillance. We don’t even know if the perp is going to be there. Really we’re just checking out the place.’ Gail found herself rubbing her hand in soothing circles on Holly’s back.

‘But what if he is there and approaches you, what then? Do you go on a date with him? You won’t have all that back-up then.’

‘Lets not get ahead of things, Holly. We’ll deal with that if it happens. You need to trust me that I know what I’m doing.’

‘I do, Gail. And I know you need to do your job and I can’t let my fears get in the way of that,’ Holly sighed, ‘I just wish you weren’t doing this.’

‘If there was any other way, I wouldn’t go undercover Holly.’

Holly looked unconvinced.

‘You want me to say no?’ Gail asked.

‘No, I can’t ask you to do that.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘You look like shit, Peck,’ Frankie said as Gail rounded the corridor that led to the Incident room, and then added more sympathetically, ‘Couldn’t sleep.’

Gail shook her head.

‘Well, go home. Get some sleep. Don’t come back until this evening. I want you rested. You need to be on top of your game for this. That is if you’re still okay about going undercover. It’s not too late to pull the plug on this,’ Frankie said.

‘No, I’m still up for it.’

‘Okay,’ Frankie regarded her for a moment, ‘so go home.’

‘But there is work to do here,’ Gail protested.

‘Not for you. I’ve got Dov and Matt doing background checks on the staff from both bars and Chloe and Andy are looking into who manufactures and distributes green tarpaulins. It’s a long shot. I think those tarps are fairly common, but you never know.’ Frankie shrugged.

As Gail turned to leave, Frankie called after her, ‘Hey Gail, was Holly okay with the undercover?’

Gail grimaced. ‘As much as she can be,’ she replied.

‘So not happy’ Frankie said.

Gail nodded. She and Holly had parted uneasily. Holly had to rush to her meeting and Gail felt like there was plenty both of them had left unsaid. She had told Holly she had nothing to prove but now Gail realized she actually did. She had to show Holly that she could go undercover and it would be all right, that she wouldn’t be abducted or drugged and that it wouldn’t unhinge her. She knew Holly hadn’t intended it to, but it put a whole lot of pressure on Gail that she could do without.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

At 3pm Frankie went across to the morgue to meet with Holly. The pathologist had called saying she’d found something interesting in the soil samples forensics had collected from beneath Susan‘s body.

‘It’s a micro fiber,’ Holly explained to Frankie, ‘it is so tiny it was easy to overlook the first time we examined the samples. We’ve established it’s the type of fiber used in automotive carpets. And luckily for us the FBI have FACID, which is a database – the Forensic Automotive Carpet Fiber Identification Database to be exact – with information about nearly 1000 automotive carpet samples. For each sample, the database lists several main searchable parameters, or fields, which are dependent upon the characteristics of each fiber. For example color, cross section, diameter, polymer class, the presence or absence of delustrant, color distribution, any striations and visible spectral peaks.’

‘Much as I’m enjoying the science lesson, in English please Dr Stewart,’ Frankie interrupted.

‘Oh,’ Holly laughed weakly, ‘Sorry, basically we’ve got a match. It was used in Chevrolet cargo vans between 2000 and 2006.’

‘And you’re saying it was used by our perp?’

‘Now, that I can’t be certain of. It is possible he transferred the fiber to the dumpsite on the sole of his shoe. Then again it might not have anything to do with the crime at all. But if you find a suspect with a Chevy cargo van then we may well be able to link him to the dump site by matching the fiber with the carpet in his car.’

Frankie blew out a breath. When Holly had asked her to come to the morgue she had hoped for a significant breakthrough, even something that would mean she could call off tonight’s undercover operation. ‘I guess it’s something at least.’

‘I know it doesn’t seem like much,‘ Holly said, understanding Frankie’s frustration that the investigation didn’t seen to be moving forward, ‘but he cleaned the bodies so thoroughly and was so careful not to leave any trace evidence, we’re lucky we found this.’

‘But you said yourself he may not have left it there.’

‘I’d say the probability is high he did,’ Holly said.

‘You’re unhappy Gail’s going undercover,’ Frankie said abruptly.

If Holly was surprised by the sudden change in topic she didn’t show it. ‘Gail tell you that?’

‘I asked her,’ Frankie said, ‘She wasn’t telling tales. So do you think I should take her off the operation?’

Holly frowned. ‘I can’t answer that. I’m her girlfriend and of course I’m worried, especially given her history, but you’re the senior detective on this case so this is your call.’

Frankie nodded.

‘I’ll tell you one thing though, if as a supervisor I have any doubts about someone’s capacity to do a job I reassign them or at least get them the support they need to complete the task.’ Holly continued.

‘I wouldn’t ask Gail to do this if I had doubts, Holly. Anyway, it’s a low-key operation. Really, you have nothing to worry about. You know I care about what happens to Gail.’

‘Yeah, you’re not over her are you?’ Holly stated mildly.

Frankie looked at Holly sharply but saw no judgment there. She looked down and gave a self-deprecating laugh. ‘Just my luck, I leave a trail of broken hearts because all I want is casual then I meet Gail Peck and suddenly I don’t want to do casual anymore but she’s in love with someone else.’

‘She can be a heartbreaker,’ Holly said, and she realized it was a testament to how secure she felt in her relationship with Gail that all she felt was sympathy for Frankie.

‘Yeah, well I’m no threat Holly. I mean that goes without saying. She only has eyes for you, but I count Gail as a friend and I’ll do everything to keep her safe,’ Frankie said with uncharacteristic solemnity and Holly found herself suddenly liking this women a whole lot more.

 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………  
Gail was woken by her phone ringing. She didn’t recognize the number. When she answered with ‘Detective Peck’, she discovered it was Iris the dog walker who had stumbled over the bodies. Or more accurately Fudge, her chocolate labrador, had found the bodies when he ran into the gully and wouldn’t come back when Iris called repeatedly. No doubt Fudge was lured by the smell of decomposition. That breed was known to eat anything, Gail thought with a wince.

Iris, who was in her mid sixties, had admitted that she liked to take the more remote trails in the woods because she didn’t want the Rangers to fine her for walking her dog off leash. In fact she seemed more concerned that Gail was going to arrest her for that infraction than about the fact that she had found two dead bodies.

Gail, whose head had been swimming after seeing the bodies with their deeply grooved ligature marks and platinum hair so stark against the leaf strewn forest floor, had been short with Iris. ‘Look, relax lady. I’m not going to lock you up for letting Fudge roam free. I just need some details.’

Iris hadn’t been able to tell her much. Yes she walked here regularly, but she rarely saw anyone else and hadn’t noticed any suspicious activity in the last few weeks or even days. Now she told Gail, almost breathlessly, ‘I remembered something, detective. I saw a white van about two days before, before’.

Gail heard a slight tremor in Iris’ voice and felt guilty she hadn’t been kinder to her at the crime scene. Finding a body was a traumatic experience for a member of the public and of course Iris’ preoccupation with the dog being off leash was probably just shock. At the time Gail wondered if being a bitch was her default position when faced with fear, rather than fight or flight. That thought hadn’t made her any nicer to Iris though.

‘Before you found the bodies,’ Gail finished for her gently. ‘Where was the van?’

‘On the road near the start of the trail. He was heading out.’

‘He?’ Gail asked, ‘So you got a look at him.’

‘Not really, just a vague shape. I was annoyed because he was driving fast, too fast for a wilderness area and Fudge was, well.’

‘Fudge was off leash,’ Gail said.

‘Yes.’

‘Okay, would it be possible for you to come by the station and take a look at some photos of vans? See if you can identify the one you saw. We can send a car to pick you up.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

When she got back to the station after her visit to the morgue, Frankie was surprised to find Gail sitting with Iris in front of a computer.

‘It was that one. Definitely,’ Iris said, pointing to a photo of a white Chevy cargo van, ‘it didn’t have any windows on the side just like this one.’

Gail smiled. ‘That’s great Iris. This could be a big help.’

‘Do you think that was him, in the van? That means I was out there walking when he was dumping them in the forest,’ Iris shuddered, ‘I haven’t walked there since.’

Gail put her hand on Iris’s arm. ‘It may not be him, but it’s probably sensible to stick to the more popular trails, even it does mean keeping Fudge on his leash.’

When Gail returned from ushering Iris out, Frankie, Dov and Matt were waiting expectantly for her. Chloe and Andy were still out chasing down camping suppliers to see if any of them stocked the type of tarpaulin used to cover the victims.

Frankie looked at Gail keenly. ‘So, Iris saw a Chevy cargo van in the forest?’ she asked.

‘Yep,’ Gail popped the ‘p’, ‘She didn’t get much of a look at the guy though. She thinks he had dark hair but he was going too fast.’

‘Interesting,’ Frankie said, trying to conceal her growing excitement, ‘Dr Stewart found a fiber that comes from carpet used in those cargo vans. Dov, how are you and Matt going with those background checks.’

‘Almost done. Everyone looks clean so far.’

‘Okay, when you’ve finished I want you to check to see if any of the men who attended the same FindLove events as our victims are registered owners of a Chevy van. In fact any kind of white transit van. We can’t rule out that Iris got the make wrong.’

‘That’s a huge job. We won’t get it done before we need to set up surveillance for tonight.’ Dov said, a little apologetically.

‘That’s okay. I’ll give you a hand. If we don’t find anything in the next few hours or get it finished, you and Matt can pick up the search tomorrow.’ Frankie turned to Gail. ‘Can you check if any vans have been ticketed in the vicinity of Rouge Park or caught on a speed camera around the time Iris thinks she saw the van. Start with white Chevys.’

Two hours later, the four of them had come up empty handed, however there was still a lot of data to examine. Chloe and Andy returned with the news that the tarpaulins were manufactured in Korea and were a dime a dozen, stocked by everyone from camping stores to Kmart. It would be impossible to trace everyone who bought one.

Frankie called it quits for the day and ordered in some Thai takeaway. It was nearly 6pm and they needed to take up their position outside the bar in just over an hour. Once the event kicked off at eight, Gail, Matt, Chris and Anna would arrive separately and at staggered times. Gail had had the foresight to bring in her dress and makeup when she returned to the station and Chloe offered to help her get ready. Gail snarked that they weren’t sorority sisters but accepted the offer anyway.

‘What’s up with you and Dov?’ Gail asked Chloe once they were in the locker room.

‘He’s got it in his head that there’s something going on with me and Frankie.’

‘Well is there?’ Gail asked, and when Chloe gave her a look, she said ‘Well, you two seem pretty tight these days.’

‘Gail, she is just a friend.’

‘So you’re not interested in a bit of experimentation?’

‘Gail, what makes you think I’ve never slept with a woman?’

‘Oh, I just thought Wes and then Dov,’ Gail trailed off, feeling a little foolish for making this assumption.

‘Well, Dov and Wes have been my two major relationships, but before that I wasn’t really into labels,’ Chloe shrugged.

‘Okay then,’ Gail said, realizing she shouldn’t be surprised by this revelation, ‘so not tempted by Frankie’s Sapphic charms.’

‘She’s hot but, apart from the fact that it would be very messy, I love Dov.’

‘So why not tell him that.’

‘He’s being such an ass, I think he should stew for a bit.’

‘That sounds really stupid, Chloe. I think you’ve been hanging out with Frankie and me too much. Just tell him how you feel. Believe me, I know from bitter experience the silent treatment doesn’t work,’ Gail said.

‘Since when did you start giving relationship advice,’ Chloe asked sassily, but there was a teasing tone in her voice.

‘Even Disney princesses need someone to make sure their crowns don’t slip,’ Gail said flippantly, ‘and I’m sick of Dov being a miserable pain in the ass. You make him almost tolerable.’

Chloe laughed. Yeah, Gail cared all right, she thought and the realization made her smile. If she made Dov tolerable, then Holly had made Gail human.

After that the tech guy appeared to put the wire on Gail so they stopped talking about Dov. As Gail finished zipping up her dress, her phone pinged with a message from Holly. It read ‘Keep safe. Will you come back to Rachel’s tonight. I don’t care what time. I’ll wait up.’ Gail immediately replied, ‘Yes, of course’ and added several xxxs.

When Gail reappeared in the Incident room she was wearing an elegant sleeveless sheath dress that was indigo in color and clung to every curve of her body, and a pair of sleek patent leather high heel pumps. Her lips were a deep red and she wore several silver rings on her fingers and a pair of drop sapphire earrings. The whole effect was classy, slightly understated but undeniably sexy. Matt gave a low whistle.

‘Looking good, Peck,’ he said, ‘Hell, I’d even date you.’

Gail regarded him haughtily. ‘You would be so lucky’.

‘Yeah, really Matt,’ Frankie said looking at him like he was something the cat had dragged in, but he just shrugged.

 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The Cube was smaller than the bar FindLove had used on Tuesday night. It was modeled on the Prohibition era Speakeasies with the bar staff dressed in waistcoats, bowties and bold blue and white striped shirts with sleeve garters. The bar counter ran nearly the whole length of one side of the room and on the other were low booths with seats upholstered in a deep maroon vinyl. The bar was in a basement off the street and entry was via an unadorned cement stairwell and through a nondescript door, which Gail guessed was designed to add to the authenticity of the place. The whole thing was a little affected for her taste. Like it was trying too hard to be cool and not quite pulling it off. Anyway, she was under the impression the Speakeasy fad had come and gone.

On the way in, Gail had shown her FindLove key ring token to the bouncer who also crossed her name off a list. Standard procedure according to Sandra, who had furnished them with tokens so Gail, Chris, Anna and Matt could get into the event. By 9pm it was packed, with little room to move. Already Gail had been propositioned twice.

The first was a brash barely twenty something guy who said he was in IT and had a thing for the older ladies as he surveyed Gail from head to toe with a creepy leer. While Gail found him completely unappealing, nothing about him made her think serial killer and after she turned him down he shrugged amiably and went in search of another conquest.

To Gail’s surprise the other was a woman who came up and introduced herself as Stacey.

‘Why don’t we get out of here,’ she said without much preamble, leaning into Gail, ‘my place is just round the corner.’

‘Um, isn’t this event for straight people,’ Gail said, too taken aback to formulate a smooth reply.

‘Oh, you look like you might swing both ways,’ Stacey said, making her voice low and seductive.

‘Nope, I only bat for one team.’ Gail smiled.

‘Pity, you’re way hotter than any of the guys here tonight.’

Back in the surveillance van, Andy, Frankie and Chloe were chuckling.

‘Geez, Peck even has women throwing themselves at her in straight bars,’ Frankie grumbled.

‘Nice deflection, though,’ Andy said.

‘And technically she didn’t tell a lie,’ Dov pointed out, ‘I mean she is gay now right, isn’t she, so she only bats for that team, I mean your team Frankie. Whatever.’

The three women looked at him almost pityingly and then Chloe said brightly ‘Actually I think she only bats for one team and its Dr Holly Stewart’s.’

Back in the bar, Gail was beginning to question Sandra’s claim that FindLove provided a space for people interested in meeting and getting to know their ‘special one’. From what she could see it was something of a meat market. People weren’t spending a lot of time in conversation before pairing off. It made her feel grateful she was no longer single.

In fact coming out had put a stop to both her mother’s matchmaking and awkward conversations with guys who, because she was on a blind date, saw her as an easy lay rather than, as Elaine hoped, a potential wife. She still had to talk to her mother about the fact of Holly. When Holly had shown up at the hospital after Steve was bashed, Elaine seemed to take it in her stride. Yet Gail was aware that once again she’d failed ExPecktations and put pay to her mother’s grand plan to marry her off to the son of one of Toronto’s well-heeled establishment families so she could pop out babies to be molded into Toronto’s finest.

Gail was heading past one of the booths when a plaster-encased leg came out to stop her progress. Looking across, Gail saw it belonged to Aaron Schmidt, the guy they had interviewed just two days ago about the murders. Shit, thought Gail, they should have anticipated he might turn up tonight.

‘Thought it was you, blondie,’ he said, smiling up at Gail in a way that could only be described as sleazy, ‘you here for work or pleasure?’

‘Definitely pleasure,’ Gail purred, while mentally gritting her teeth.

‘So you catch your guy?’

‘Ah, I’m off the case. Not sure where they are up to with it,’ Gail shrugged, hoping he believed her.

‘Yeah, well then why don’t you come join me, have some fun,’ Aaron said, patting the space next to him in the booth.

‘Aaron you seem like a nice guy, but I’m afraid you’re just not my type,’ said Gail, thankful he was too stupid or perhaps too drunk to question the plausibility of her explanation.

‘Your loss blondie. Can you at least get me a drink from the bar? It’s hard to get up with this,’ he gestured to his leg, ‘get me a Bud.’

Gail figured buying Aaron a drink might at least shut him up. She didn’t want him asking her any other questions about the case or telling anyone else here that she was a cop. While she was waiting to be served a flyer on the bar top caught her eye. It was for a new gym downtown called FuelBurn, which if you asked Gail was a really uninspiring name.

‘Interested in working out,’ said the barman coming over to serve Gail.

He reminded her a little of Nick. He was tall like Nick with the same square jaw and easy grin and the pin-up boy good looks. Unlike Nick, his hair was jet black and he was even more built, so much so that his biceps strained against his shirtsleeves. Gail suspected steroids might have helped with that.

‘Oh, you know,’ Gail said vaguely, with a little wave of her hand.

‘You look pretty good,’ the barman said, appraising Gail in a way that would normally make her skin crawl, ‘though your upper arms could probably do with some more work.’

‘Who made you the expert?’ she asked, unable to conceal the note of irascibility in her voice.

The barman jabbed the flyer with a finger. ‘I work there. First week is free for FindLove members. You should have got the invitation when you signed up.’

‘Yeah, gym’s not really my thing. I probably ignored it.’

‘I could show you round if you like. We specialize in workouts for women. I can even create a customized program for you. I reckon I could turn you into a gym junkie before you knew it.’

There was a flirtatiousness to his words that piqued Gail’s interest and not for the reasons the barman had in mind. The speed with which he’d zeroed in on her and offered a personalized training session was setting off some alarm bells. Could this be the connection they were looking for? Had the four women gone to FuelBurn? Could this guy or someone else at the gym be the killer? It might also be worth investigating if any other places gave out freebies to FindLove members. Gail realized it was something the team had overlooked. It hadn’t occurred to them that FindLove might be doing cross promotions.

‘So, what do you say. I think I’m proof that I know a thing or two about working out,’ the barman gestured to himself.

‘Yeah, I can see that,’ Gail said.

‘Here,’ he said, picking up a pen and grabbing the flyer, ‘I’ll give you my number. I’m Trent by the way and you are?’

‘Gail.’

‘Okay Gail, I know you probably aren’t going to call me, and I promise it is not going to kill you to try this out, so why don’t you give me your number so we can set up a time.’ Trent ended with a boyish grin.

Pushy, but in the nicest possible way, Gail thought. Interesting. There was actually something about the incongruous mix of arrogance and attentiveness that made him seem quite charming.

‘Okay,’ she said pulling out the phone she’d been given for the undercover operation and punching in Trent’s number. She heard the sound of a ringtone coming from his trouser pocket, which she recognized as the theme from the Saw movies. Maybe he wasn’t the killer after all, that just seemed too obvious.

‘So, I’ll call you,’ Trent said with another smile before moving down the bar to serve another customer, and Gail nodded.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. Gail felt like she had been subjected to every lame pick-up line known but none of the men who approached her struck her as likely killers. Frankie sent a text at 11pm calling an end to the operation.

At the debrief back at the station, Chris, Matt and Anna also had little to report, although like Gail all three felt like the event was less about finding true love and more about casual sex. Gail then mentioned Trent and her suspicions.

‘Yeah, I didn’t pick up on that,’ said Frankie, ‘he just seemed sleazy, but you’re right it’s worth looking into the gym and any other places doing cross-promotions with FindLove. We’ll do that tomorrow.’

‘Hey, Gail do you need a ride?’ Chloe asked as the team began to disperse.

‘Thanks, but I’ve got my car. I’m going to stay at Holly’s anyway.’

‘Okay,’ Chloe nodded, ‘hey, I thought we might have to close down the op when Aaron turned up.’

‘Good thing he was so gullible,’ Gail said.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It was close to midnight when Gail gave a tentative knock on Rachel’s door. She didn’t want to get into trouble for waking up Lisa. A sleepy-eyed Holly answered, wearing a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top, her hair delightfully mussed up. Suddenly her eyes went wide when she saw what Gail was wearing.

‘You look amazing,’ she breathed and pulled Gail into a hug, ‘and you’re here.’

‘Of course I am,’ Gail replied, and then pulling back said, ‘I’m pretty wired after the op, you know maybe I shouldn’t stay tonight.’

‘No, it’s okay. I want you to stay. I can make some chamomile tea and you can tell me how it went,’ Holly said, taking Gail by the hand and leading her through to the kitchen area.

‘Boob job asleep?’ Gail asked leaning back against the kitchen counter and watching as Holly switched on the kettle.

‘Lisa’s out. She went to that new club in Church Street. She was trying to get me to go with her. If she’s not home by now she’s probably picked up some girl and gone back to her place.’

‘So we have the apartment to ourselves?’ Gail said with a suggestive lift of her eyebrows, pulling Holly over by the hand so she standing in front of her.

Holly smiled. ‘You look so beautiful Gail,’ she said linking her arms around Gail’s neck.

‘You don’t like me in jeans and t-shirts.’

‘Actually you are beautiful,’ Holly gave Gail a quick kiss on the lips, ‘no matter what you wear’, she gave her another kiss, ‘beautiful and gorgeous,’ another kiss, ‘and sexy as hell,’ another quick kiss, ‘and I am so lucky you’re my girlfriend.’

This time she leaned in and deepened the kiss. It was aggressive yet needy and Gail knew it held traces of their argument from this morning but also came from Holly’s relief that Gail was here, the forcefulness a counterpoint to Holly’s fear of losing her.

Eventually Gail spun Holly around so she now had her back to the counter. She started trailing kisses down her neck, while running a hand along the inside of her leg and then back up and under her tank top, splaying her hand across that toned stomach before sliding it beneath the waistband of Holly’s boxers. Gail smiled at how wet Holly was and how Holly immediately leaned into her, wanting more. Before long she had slipped two, then three fingers inside Holly and Holly was gasping and asking her to go faster and harder and Gail could tell she was close. Then Holly was calling out her name and Gail was laughing in delight at the sounds she made as she came. Just as Holly bit down on her shoulder, she heard a sound that filled her with anything but delight.

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake. You two get a room,’ Lisa said as she stomped through the living area to her bedroom.

Gail went rigid but Holly laughed quietly.

‘What’s so funny Holly? Lisa is going to hate me even more,’ Gail whined.

‘She doesn’t hate you, Gail. Anyway, the number of times I’ve walked in on her having sex in inappropriate places, it’s about time she got some of her own medicine. But,’ Holly said kissing Gail, ‘what’s say we continue this in my bed.’ Gail smiled and nodded, Lisa completely forgotten.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

They were woken by a loud knock on Holly’s bedroom door. Lisa stuck her head around the door, but with one hand shielding her eyes.

‘Are you naked? Are you two having sex?’ she said, ‘because Frankie’s here. You both left your phones in the living room.’

‘What,’ said Gail groggily, pulling up the sheet to cover herself and Holly.

The door swung open completely then, and she saw Frankie standing behind Lisa.

‘We’ve found two more bodies,’ Frankie said.


	16. Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters.
> 
> Hope those who got one had a lovely Easter break. Sorry, this chapter took me a little longer as there is a lot going on for me at the moment.
> 
> Hope you enjoy. Please let me know what you think!
> 
> Warning: There is mention of rape in this chapter.  
> \--------------------------------------------------------

Holly was already at the dumpsite when Frankie and Gail pulled up. They had detoured via Gail's house so she could change into fresh clothes seeing as she had shown up at Holly's the night before in a dress and high heels.

‘Do I have time for a really quick shower?’ Gail asked on the way over to the house.

‘You probably should’ Frankie smirked, ‘Lisa told me about walking in on you and Holly.’

‘Oh god, is nothing private,’ Gail said, only slightly mortified.

‘Apparently not, according to what Lisa says she saw.’

‘Oh god, Frankie she didn’t give you details.’ This time Gail was mortified.

‘Thankfully no,’ Frankie said.

When Gail came downstairs dressed in jeans and combat boots, Frankie handed her a cup of coffee and one of Chloe’s healthy granola bars. Gail looked at the bar suspiciously but then figured she better eat it. She hadn’t had much sleep last night. 

Holly seemed to need to play out her relief that Gail had returned unharmed from the undercover assignment on Gail’s body. From the moment of Holly’s insistent kiss in the kitchen, which had turned into a rough clashing of teeth and tongues and lips, Gail knew that it was all about fucking and it was more than that too. It was as if Holly hoped this onslaught would erase, even temporarily, her fears and bind Gail to her here, now. There was a wantonness to it that Gail found exhilarating. Then as the night wore on things became less frantic and more measured as the urge to possess was replaced by the desire on each of their parts to savor the other, and these gentler careful caresses had a different yet just as explosive intensity. 

They hadn’t talked much last night. Holly had been relentless until finally exhausted they fell asleep, their limbs tangled, and so they stayed until Lisa’s harsh knock on the bedroom door. This morning Gail’s body ached deliciously from their exertions and bore the marks of Holly’s possessiveness. Even her scalp hurt a little from where Holly had tugged hard on her hair, but the memory of what she had being doing to Holly at the time made Gail smile to herself, the corners of her mouth quirking just slightly.

‘You figured out how to work the coffee machine,’ Gail now said to Frankie. ‘Impressive crema,’ she added taking a sip of her espresso and rolling the thick liquid around on her tongue before swallowing it, appreciating the bitter but smooth taste and anticipating the instant jolt the caffeine would give her. She knew people thought it weird given her sweet tooth that she’d taken to drinking this type of coffee. Her somewhat fancy espresso coffee machine scared off most people when they discovered it wasn’t a drip filter coffee maker.

‘I worked in a coffee shop in high school,’ Frankie replied, reminding Gail that she didn’t know much about the detective’s past. Frankie might have boasted about her sexual prowess when she first met Gail but had divulged little about herself since, even when they had been sleeping together. 

‘I bet you gave the customers hell,’ Gail said.

Frankie shrugged but didn’t deny it. ‘I made good coffee though.’

On the drive to the dumpsite, Frankie filled Gail in on what she knew. The women had been found just off a trail in Rogue Park that was popular with joggers. Duncan and Peterson had secured the scene after calling it in.

As they approached along the narrow roadway, Gail could see the area had been cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape. Holly and Rodney were waiting a little further up on a slight embankment, where Gail guessed the bodies had been dumped. Holly was clutching her red lunchbox, no, Gail corrected herself, forensic kit. She could see Andy and Chloe with a guy who she guessed was Kevin Michaels, the jogger who found the bodies. A crowd of people, many dressed in running gear, had gathered to watch the spectacle. 

‘It’s a much less secluded area than the last dump site,’ Gail observed.

‘Do you think he’s upping the ante?’

‘Could be,’ she said as she unbuckled the seatbelt, ‘this is a well-used trail for joggers. He must have known the bodies would be discovered quickly. It has to be intentional.’

As they exited the car, Frankie sighed. A van from a local TV station had driven in behind them. So far they had managed to keep the investigation out of the media but Gail had guessed it wouldn’t be too long before some journalist got wind of it. Serial killers were good for ratings, she thought a little bitterly, because everyone loved a celebrity monster. 

She supposed it was the question of what drove someone to kill again and again, and usually in the most violent and cruel and random of ways, that fed the public’s macabre obsession. Yet, even though she had come face to face with a serial killer, had experienced that insanity and the chilling callousness and the casual sadism, she could not explain why such evil existed. Perhaps ultimately it was this that lay beneath the public’s fascination, that you could never truly comprehend the sheer depravity of a serial killer.

‘I’m going to call Oliver. We need more uniforms here. Tell McNally and Price to keep the media at a distance. And see what the jogger has to say,’ Frankie directed. She pulled out her phone and then, ducking under the crime scene tape, went ahead to where Holly and Rodney were standing.

Kevin Michaels was visibly shaken. He had stopped because of muscle cramps and was trying to loosen up by doing some stretching exercises when he noticed the green tarpaulin. He took this trail everyday and the tarpaulin hadn’t been here yesterday morning so he was curious and went to take a closer look. Then he noticed a foot sticking out. He’d pulled back the tarpaulin and discovered the bodies. 

‘I’m afraid I threw up,’ he said apologetically.

‘Understandable,’ Gail said.

‘Then the coach of the high school cross-country team came over and we decided to cover the bodies again.’

That was something Gail would need to tell Holly.

‘The coach?’ she inquired.

‘He and his cross-country team are just over there,’ Andy said, gesturing in the direction of a tree by the track, where a group, wearing matching shorts and sweat shirts emblazoned with a school insignia, were huddled. Several had their cell phones out and Gail could guess where the media leak had come from. 

There was no way they could keep the investigation quiet now. The media would be all over it. And if the police didn’t solve the case soon, the spotlight would turn on them and questions would be asked about their competency. Then the politicians would come out and rail about the need to keep the streets safe and the media would pontificate about whether the government and the police were tough enough on crime, and citizens would ring talkback radio and say they were fearful to leave their homes. Ironic really, Gail mused, given serial killers accounted for less than one percent of murders, and when you were twelve times more likely to die at the hands of a family member. Gail returned her attention to Kevin.

‘I passed the cross-country team earlier on the trail, but they caught up when I stopped,’ he was saying, ‘the coach and I didn’t want the kids to see the bodies, to see what had been done to those women. Did I do the wrong thing?’

‘No Kevin,’ Gail said, ‘did you notice if any of those kids took photos?’

‘I think a couple may have done. TG, the coach, growled at them for it. Not that they could see much from where they were standing.’

‘Did you notice anyone else hanging around? Anyone acting suspiciously?’

‘You think the killer was here when I found the women?’

‘It's unlikely. I’m just ruling out the possibility.’

‘No, I didn’t see anyone.’

‘Did the foot look like it was accidently sticking out or could the tarpaulin been deliberately arranged so the foot would be seen?’

Kevin looked at her strangely. ‘I dunno Detective. It kind of happened so fast. The tarp may have been folded back at that edge, now I think about it.’

‘But you’re not 100 per cent certain?’

‘No,’ Kevin shook his head, ‘Why is that important?’

‘It may not be. Was there anything covering the tarp? Like dirt or leaves?’

Kevin shook his head no.

‘So nothing at all?’ Gail asked.

‘No’

‘Okay. Here’s my card. If you think of anything else let me know. You’ll need to be fingerprinted because you touched the tarp.’ When Kevin looked confused, Gail added ‘for the purpose of elimination. Officers McNally and Price have your details?’ 

Kevin nodded. After he left, Gail turned to Andy and Chloe. ‘Have you spoken to the coach?’

‘Yeah,’ Andy said, ‘He confirmed what Kevin said. Most of the kids didn’t see anything. They hung back when the coach went to help Kevin.’

‘Okay we need to move these kids on quickly. I’m guessing they’ve already posted photos on social media. And probably alerted the media,’ Gail said as she observed another car pull up and Martha Fisher, the Toronto Star’s crime reporter, get out. Great, thought Gail, only the paper with the largest circulation in Canada. A cruiser followed behind, lights flashing but with the siren off and Gail saw it was Chris and Anna Robinson. 

‘Tell those kids they need to delete any photos and anything they’ve posted on social media,’ Gail said.

‘Can we do that legally?’ Andy asked.

Gail shrugged. ‘If they refuse, just tell them it’s an ongoing murder investigation and we’ll charge them with obstruction of justice. And organize for TG to be fingerprinted. I’m going to see what forensics has got.’ 

The bodies had been left on a small embankment to the left of the trail. Interesting, Gail thought as she made her way up the slight rise, almost as if they were on display, waiting to be unveiled. It was different to the other dumpsite where the killer had used the gully to conceal the bodies and covered the tarps with dirt and leaves so their discovery was left to chance. What had made the killer change his modus operandi, she wondered.

Once Gail reached Frankie, who was standing back a little observing the forensic team, she saw that Holly and Rodney were preparing to remove the tarpaulin. As they peeled back the plastic sheeting, Gail noted that the two women had been placed side by side, their arms slightly apart with their palms facing upwards almost in a gesture of supplication. The positioning was identical to the way Susan Phelps and Maura Lees had been left and, just like Susan and Maura, the two women were blonde and blue-eyed. There was one crucial difference. Across the torso of one of the women a message had been written in thick black marker. It said ‘You might be next Detective Blondie. I haven’t decided yet.’

Holly paled, her normally tan complexion seemingly several shades lighter than usual and for a moment Gail wondered if she might faint and if she should go to her. Then Frankie exclaimed ‘What the fuck’, her mouth in a grim line.

‘This just got personal,’ Gail said, surprising even herself at the flippancy of her tone. 

Holly turned to her, her expression pained. ‘Don’t Gail,’ she said quietly.

Gail stepped towards her but Holly stepped back. 

‘Don’t touch me,’ she hissed, her voice tight and so quiet only Gail could hear her.

‘I just want to make sure you’re okay,’ Gail said, like Holly keeping her voice low.

‘You want to see if I’m okay?’ Now Holly’s voice was louder and for the briefest of moments she looked angry before her face softened slightly. ‘Are you alright?’ she asked, searching Gail’s face. 

As Gail started to nod, Holly shook her head in disbelief and sucked in a deep breath. Gail could see Holly was fighting hard to maintain her composure and she hated she was the cause of her distress. Normally nothing ruffled Holly at work. Suddenly Holly drew herself up and looking away from Gail said in an impassive tone, ‘I need to get to work. The sooner we can get these bodies back to the morgue the sooner I can start the autopsies.’

Gail nodded again and, as she turned away from Holly, she saw that Frankie and Rodney had silently observed the entire exchange and were now looking at both of them with concern. 

After that Holly set to work with a steady determination, only speaking to confer with Rodney or answer Frankie’s questions. Gail sensed it best if she left it to Frankie to do the talking. Holly’s voice when she spoke was clipped and brisk. It was as if Frankie and even Rodney were strangers. 

‘We’ll know more when we get back to the morgue, but they were probably killed in the last six hours. Rigor mortis is only just setting in. You can see at the moment it’s only affecting the face and upper neck,’ Holly gestured to the bodies. 

Normally, at this point Holly would go into full science mode, explaining that the body stiffened after death because of the loss of Adenosine Triphosphate or ATP from the body's muscles. She’d describe how ATP was the substance that allowed energy to flow to the muscles and help them work and without this the muscles became stiff and inflexible. Holly would point out that rigor mortis started in the body at the same time, usually about two hours after death, although the smaller muscles such as those in the face and neck were affected first. Then, in spite of the grisly topic, Gail would have to suppress the urge to kiss Holly, because she was so adorable and someone how so sexy when in one of her nerd rambles. Gail would know that Holly knew from the private smile that quirked the corner of Gail’s lips exactly what she was thinking. Today there was none of that. Holly wouldn’t even look at Gail as she detailed her findings.

‘And the lividity,’ Holly pointed to dark purple stain on the lower half of one of the victims where the blood had pooled, ‘indicates they were dumped not long after they died.’

Frankie nodded. She had seen enough homicides to know that once blood stopped being pumped around the body gravity made it pool in the lower extremities. The women’s hands and feet were a purplish blue and Gail couldn’t help but notice how this made the deep grooves left by the ligatures stand out even more.

‘Lividity can be altered in the first six hours after death by moving the body, but after that it’s fixed because blood vessels begin to break down in the body. The lividity here corresponds with the bodies being placed on the ground. It and the rigor mortis suggests the victims were killed around the same time.’ Holly continued.

‘So it’s quite possible they were killed after midnight?’ Frankie asked, and Holly nodded.

‘So our perp could have been at the FindLove thing last night,’ Gail finally spoke, and was certain she saw Holly shudder slightly.

After that Holly and Rodney prepared to move the victims into the body bags, and Frankie and Gail left to return to the station.

Duncan and Pedersen were standing by the crime scene tape as Gail and Frankie came down the embankment. As the detective's drew closer, they heard Pedersen say, ‘Geez it looked like that Doc was going to puke. I didn’t think dead bodies bothered the forensic docs. She’s hot though. Think I’ll volunteer to go to the morgue for the autopsy. Get to know the Doc better.’

Duncan, who had noticed Gail and Frankie approach, was shaking his head and saying, ‘Ah, Pedersen, ah man, the detectives’ before Frankie interrupted. 

'Pedersen, I take it you're referring to Doctor Stewart,' she said putting an emphasis on the word doctor, 'and how many times have you puked at an autopsy? Two, no that's right three times. I believe the rookies are taking bets on how often you'll puke by the end of your first year.'

Pedersen colored slightly. As Gail and Frankie ducked under the tape and headed towards the car, they heard Duncan saying, ‘I tried to warn you man.’

‘Fucking dy-,' the word died on Pedersen’s lips as Gail spun round.

‘Continue what you’re saying and I’ll have you up on a disciplinary charge so fast you will be puking,’ she said, her voice icy and her expression steely, leaving Pedersen in no doubt he’d crossed a line. It wasn’t often that Frankie saw anything of Elaine in Gail, and she knew Gail consciously strove not to be like her mother in any way, but as Gail looked at Pedersen as if he were a cockroach she wanted to squash beneath the heel of her boot it immediately made Frankie think of Elaine. Pedersen seemed to visibly wither before Gal’s gaze.

‘But I’m going to give you another chance Officer Pedersen,’ Gail said, her voice oozing a sweetness that Frankie knew was anything but, ‘when you’ve finished here, you will drive straight to the lunch place near the morgue, you know Café Chaos?’ 

Pedersen nodded.

‘And you will buy a grilled chicken and avocado sandwich on rye with black pepper, and no tomatoes. If it has tomatoes I will put you on a charge. And then you will deliver that sandwich and a flat white coffee to Dr Stewart’s office. Have you got that rookie?’

Pedersen nodded again.

‘Good. Remember no tomatoes,' Gail said.

‘Um, so do you want me to stay at the morgue for the autopsy, detective?’

Gail looked at Pedersen like he was an imbecile. ‘No. You’re just the delivery boy,’ she scoffed.

Once in the car, Frankie tuned to Gail with a slight smirk. ‘That was sweet,’ she said.

‘What? Berating the rookie?’ 

‘No,’ Frankie said, ‘Getting food for Holly.’

Gail shrugged. ‘She probably hasn’t eaten. Anyway I ‘m not getting the food. Pedersen is.’

‘Semantics,’ Frankie said, as she put the car into reverse.

Weirdly Frankie hadn’t said anything about the latest victims or the message the killer had left. Gail waited but Frankie remained silent and after a moment, when the only sound in the car was the police radio with its static and staccato calls, Gail spoke. 

‘So Anderson, I guess he has upped the ante.’

‘That’s one way of looking at it.’

‘What is it about me that attracts serial killers?’ Gail said, her voice pensive.

Frankie looked at Gail sharply. ‘You go after them. They don’t like that,’ she said, ‘it is always about control for them. You challenge that.’

‘You know Aaron called me blondie when we interviewed him and in the bar last night. I think we should go and talk to him.’

‘Yeah, Matt and I’ll do that,’ Frankie said, ‘If he is our killer and if he did leave that message it is probably best if you keep a low profile. Let him believe that you have been taken off the case. Still I don’t know how he could be the killer with a broken leg and arm.’

‘Could he have faked it?’

‘Those plaster casts looked real, but lets pull his medical records just to be sure.’

‘Are you thinking he could be working with someone else?’

‘I don’t think we can rule that out,’ Frankie sighed, ‘I can’t believe how little headway we’ve made on this investigation. Hopefully these two victims can be identified quickly.’

‘Could we get Dov to check if any women belonging to FindLove have been reported missing in the last week. Might be the fastest way to identify them.’ 

‘Yeah, that’s a good idea.’

‘And if they do belong to FindLove we’re going to have to tell Sandra to shut down the next event.’

‘She won’t like that,’ Frankie said, ‘She already complained that having cops sniffing around was bad for business.’

‘Well if FindLove members keep turning up dead she won’t have a business at all,’ Gail pointed out. ‘So if I’m not allowed interview Aaron, what do you want me to do?’ 

‘I want you and Price to go to the morgue to observe the autopsies. It might also reassure Holly to have you near by.’

Gail made a face. ‘You think. She couldn’t bear for me to touch her back there.’

‘Peck, did it occur to you that if you touched her she might not have been able to hold it together. She knows exactly what that guy has done to those women and now he’s sent a message saying he’s coming after you. She needed some distance so she could do her job.’

‘Oh,’ Gail said quietly, ‘I guess that makes sense.’

‘And from now on I don’t want you going anywhere without another police officer. It’s a good thing you live with Price, but Gail I think I should move into your spare room until this investigation is over.’

‘Geez Anderson I can take of myself. I don’t need to be babysat.’ Gail didn’t disguise the annoyance in her voice.

‘Humor me,’ Frankie said, thinking there was no way she would let Gail be abducted again.

‘And if I say no,’ Gail spat out.

‘It’s non negotiable, Peck. If you want to stay on the case then I want an officer with you at all times,’ Frankie said firmly, wondering if this would be enough to appease Superintendent Peck. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at 15, Dov and Gail began the task of matching the names of FindLove members with any women who had been reported missing. Within half an hour they had two names. Patricia Weston and Claire Beecher. Gail pulled up two photographs of the victims that Rodney had forwarded to her.

‘It looks like a match,’ Dov said.

‘Yeah, I’ll call Rodney and ask him to get them ready for viewing by the parents before the autopsy. Do you want to let Frankie know.’

Dov nodded.

‘Chloe and Andy can collect Patricia Weston’s parents, and Chris and Robinson can pick up Claire Beecher’s mother. No father?’ she looked enquiringly at Dov who shook his head.

Not long after Frankie and Matt returned from interviewing Aaron.

‘He’s a charmer,’ Frankie said sarcastically, ‘he said and I quote who wouldn’t want a piece of blondie, but he came home in a taxi a little before midnight, gamed for about an hour and then went to bed. He was still in his pajamas when we got there.’

‘And we spoke to the taxi driver who confirmed he took Aaron home from the Cube last night,’ Matt added.

‘I’ve just got hold of his medical records. He did break his leg and arm four weeks ago,’ Dov said.

‘So it can’t be him,’ Frankie blew out a breath.

‘But what about him calling me blondie?’ Gail asked.

‘It's hardly an original name for someone with your hair color,’ Frankie pointed out, ‘but I still want to keep an eye on him. I know forensics think we’re only looking at one killer, but I don’t want to rule out the possibility that Aaron’s involved in some way.’

Soon after, Gail and Frankie set off for the morgue to meet the victims’ parents. Gail hated this part of the job. They would reassure the parents that they would do everything to find the killer but this would do nothing to bring back their daughters. How could it stack up against the immeasurable grief and pain and loss? The identifications went as expected. Claire Beecher was an only child and Frankie and Gail had to rush forward to support her mother as she crumpled at the sight of her lifeless daughter. The Westons were quiet and dignified, and Gail sensed that this containment was their way of dealing with the horror visited upon them.

Frankie took Andy with her to interview the parents back at the station, leaving Chloe with Gail. They found Rodney preparing the autopsy suite.

‘Dr Stewart’s in her office,’ he told them before Gail had a chance to ask where Holly was.

‘I’ll just go and have a word with her,’ Gail said, excusing herself.

Holly’s office was located one floor up. Sally, her admin assistant, an amiable woman in her mid fifties, was seated at a desk in the small reception area that led into Holly’s office. Holly’s door was shut.

‘Dr Stewart is in there,’ Sally said kindly, completely aware of who Gail was, ‘I’m sure she won’t mind if you go in.’

Gail gently tapped on the door before entering. Holly was seated at her desk, staring vacantly at the computer. Her brow was creased but she was entirely motionless.

‘Hey,’ Gail said softly and Holly jumped as if spooked. ‘I didn’t mean to startle you.’

‘What are you doing here, Gail?’

‘Price and I are here for the autopsies. The parents just confirmed the identities.’

Holly nodded her head slightly to acknowledge what Gail had said but her expression was still blank. Then she said quietly and in a voice stripped of its usual warmth, ‘I don’t know how you do it. How you stand it.’

This is it, Gail thought, Holly has finally realized what a disaster my life is. Even though she loves me it isn’t enough to make her stay, to lurch with me from one calamity to another. 

Despite everything that had transpired between them, despite Holly’s declaration that Gail was it for her and insistence that Gail couldn’t push her away, a small part of Gail always feared it might come to this, that she and all her baggage and all the crap that seemed to find her would finally be too much and that Holly would one day walk away. Gail felt tears prick at her eyes but shook her head to stop them. This was no time for self-pity. The action caused Holly to look up and directly at her but Gail couldn’t read her expression.

‘You know I’ve been sitting here planning our escape. Between us we could probably work out how to disappear so nobody could find us ever again and none of this evil could follow us. Maybe go to Central America or Greenland or one of those Scandinavian countries where everyone is so liberal and it would be like a clean slate for us and we could keep you safe but you wouldn’t come would you,’ Holly said quietly.

‘I can’t walk away from this, it wouldn’t be right’ Gail started to say but paused, unsure what to say next.

‘Can’t or won’t,’ Holly said, resignation evident in her voice.

‘I would if it was an ultimatum, Holly. So I could if you really wanted me to because I can’t lose you over this.’

‘So you’re making me choose, making me the one to decide whether to keep you safe or let some maniac come after you.’

‘No, no that’s not want I meant,’ Gail said, ‘and I will be safe. Frankie said I can’t go anywhere without her or Price as my bodyguards, and apparently Chloe and Dov reunited last night after the operation so I’m guessing I’ll have Dov at home to protect me as well. And Frankie's coming to stay.' Gail made a face and used air quotes when she said ‘reunited’, but secretly she was pleased Chloe had taken her advice to be candid with Dov about how she felt.

Holly didn’t say anything for a moment but held Gail’s gaze and Gail could tell she was struggling to come to a decision. Finally she spoke.

‘Well, I’m moving in too. Just for now, until we get this guy.’

‘Okay,’ Gail nodded, ‘Can we have really loud sex all the time to annoy the crap out of everyone else.’

‘Gail,’ Holly said, dragging out the word, her head tilted to one side, and Gail could tell the mood had shifted. ‘So where is your bodyguard now?’ 

‘Price is talking to Rodney. I bet she’ll come looking for me any moment.’ 

As if on cue there was a knock on the door. 

‘See, what did I say?’ Gail said with an impish smile. She opened the door to reveal Chloe clutching a takeaway coffee and a brown bag.

‘Hi, um Dr Stewart they are ready for you to start the autopsies,’ Chloe said by way of greeting, a peppy smile plastered across her face, ‘and Officer Pedersen asked me to give you this coffee and sandwich,’ she added as she advanced into the room.

‘That is very sweet of him, whoever he is,’ said Holly looking mystified but taking the proffered offering anyway.

‘Believe me its not,’ Gail said, ‘He’s a homophobic ass.’

‘Oh, I’m guessing there is a story there Detective.’

Gail shrugged. ‘I bet you haven’t eaten all day, nerd.’ 

Holly nodded in confirmation. 

‘So, eat your sandwich. It’s your favorite. Then we can all go down to the autopsy suite,’ Gail said.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Gail marveled at how once Holly began the autopsy she switched into professional mode. There was no sign of her earlier agitation although Gail knew Holly was doing her best to mask it.

Both victims were photographed from head to toe, front and back, and then weighed and measured and their fingerprints taken. Now Holly was carefully examining Patricia Weston for any signs of trace evidence. Patricia was the victim upon whom the killer had left his message for Gail.

‘He has washed the bodies thoroughly again.’ Holly leant down and sniffed the body, ‘It smells like some sort of chlorine based product. I was hoping, seeing as the victims were found so soon after being dumped, that we’d get some trace evidence,’ Holly said as she continued her investigation. 

‘What about the message? Will it tell us anything? He would have written it after washing the bodies wouldn’t he?’ asked Gail.

‘Yeah, but I doubt it will tell us much. There are no fingerprints so I’m guessing he wore gloves when he wrote it. We could get a handwriting expert to look at it.’

‘Can they do that, off bodies?’ Chloe asked.

‘Don’t see why not,’ Holly answered tersely without looking up, ‘I’ve not had experience of it but then killers don’t usually use their victims as note pads.’

Chloe looked across at Gail with a worried expression. She hadn’t meant to upset Holly. She realized how impossibly pressured this situation was for both women. Gail gave a little nod of assurance, but Chloe saw that she was biting her inner lip, a sure sign that Gail was troubled. 

‘This was a much more violent sexual attack than on the two previous victims. You can see by the excessive bruising on her inner thighs. I don’t know if you noticed the mark on her back. It indicates she would have been pushed down with some force while being raped,’ Holly said in a grim voice, ‘It seems like not only is the time between kills accelerating but so is the violence of the attack.’

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Frankie was alone in the Incident room going through the case notes while she waited for Gail and Chloe to return from the morgue. Gail had phoned to say that Holly had found a foreign hair on Patricia Weston’s torso. She thought it was an arm hair and may have been deposited when the killer was writing the message. It was a breakthrough but would mean nothing unless they found a suspect. 

A sound at the door made her turn, but instead of Gail and Chloe, Superintendent Peck stood there, her eyes narrowed and her lips in a tight line.

‘I’m taking over this investigation. It has got too big for you to handle Detective and as of now my daughter is off the case.’


	17. Seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter.
> 
> .....................................................................................

Frankie stared at Elaine Peck, a scowl on her face. She couldn't challenge the Superintendent. Apart from the fact that Elaine far outranked her, Frankie was well aware the Superintendent did not tolerate her authority being questioned. However what galled Frankie more than seeing the Superintendent throw her weight around was the way she referred to Gail. Not as Detective Peck or even by her first name but possessively as 'my daughter'.

The Pecks had always regarded Gail as an object to mold and move about at whim and Frankie was certain this was where Gail's problems had begun. From the few comments Gail had let slip about her childhood, Frankie sensed the more Gail tried to resist her parent's manipulations the more they pushed and the more resentful and bitter Gail became.

Normally not at a loss for words, Frankie was searching for a suitable response to Elaine, well at least one that wouldn't get her into trouble, when an icy voice cut through the room.

'Mother,' said Gail who was standing in the doorway, having returned from the morgue.

'Detective,' Elaine replied, showing no outward reaction to Gail's sudden appearance, although the word 'detective' was full of reproof.

Of course, thought Gail, she would hate that I hadn't followed protocol and addressed her by her title.

'Superintendent Peck.' Somehow Gail made the appellation sound like an insult. Like Elaine's, her face was neutral but Frankie almost imagined she could see the sneer ghosting across Gail's face. 'I'd like a word with you in private.'

'Detective, now is not the time. I am taking charge of this investigation and I need Detective Anderson to brief me. In any case you are on enforced and indefinite leave, effective immediately.' Her tone was brisk, leaving no room for argument.

'What so I can go home and wait for the killer to come find me,' Gail scoffed.

'Don't be dramatic Detective,' Elaine said, the reprimanding note back in her voice. Frankie supposed this was Elaine's default tone for Gail. 'You have been directly threatened by the killer and we need to minimize any potential risk or liability.'

Gail screwed up her face. 'What,' she said in disbelief, 'the Department is worried I might sue them if I get abducted a second time. Mother, if I get abducted again I doubt I'll be coming back.'

'My point entirely. You are at risk. We need to mitigate that.'

'I'd be much safer at work surrounded by other police officers. Frankie, um Detective Anderson has organized it so I'm always with another officer, even at home.'

'Oh I wouldn't want to rely on that perky little red head to protect you off duty or on duty for that matter. Although I suppose she could talk the killer to death,' Elaine said snidely, and Gail supposed she shouldn't be surprised by how much her mother seemed to know about Chloe. 'No, I'm sending you away. I have your tickets booked. Look at it as a surprise vacation.'

'No way. I'm not leaving this investigation,' Gail said firmly, 'the message doesn't necessarily mean the killer is targeting me. He may just want to mess with us, prove how clever he supposedly is, how he can easily outsmart the police. The message and the fact that these last two women were left in a place well used by the public clearly shows he now wants attention. He obviously knows I'm on the case so may see me as a way to get that attention.'

'He directly threatened you. He is killing women who look like you. It's obvious he is coming after you. Exactly when is the question You're right, he is goading the police and it is by leaving us guessing about when he's going to pick you off.'

'Even if the killer is coming after me, he'll find me wherever I go.' Gail said quietly. 'It could be next week when I'm on vacation or in a year's time when we think he's gone to ground and the danger has passed but he'll find me. So the thing is mother, we need to find him first and I just might be the key to doing that.'

'I very much doubt that. I wanted to take you off this case a week ago, but Detective Anderson refused. I believe you two are letting your past relationship compromise your work.'

Oh, so she does know, thought Gail. In the hospital when Elaine had asked if she was gay or if it was just Holly, Gail had been astonished her mother hadn't heard about any of the other women she'd been involved with, particular those on the force. In the past, Gail could barely blink without it getting back to Elaine via her network of spies, who Elaine coerced and bullied and intimidated into doing her bidding, but the Pecks' fall from grace had put a serious dent in Elaine's influence. Not many people were willing to go out on a limb for a Peck anymore. However, Elaine had obviously done some digging in the past weeks. Gail wondered if this was an indication that her mother's star was again rising in the force. It would explain how she was able to march in here and take over the investigation.

'Our clearance rates are among the highest on the force,' Gail said.

Elaine cocked an eyebrow.

'And that was the case even when we were sleeping together,' Gail added, resisting the urge to say fucking just to shock her mother. 'We're starting to make some headway on this case. The message he left on the body could indicate we've got him rattled. And leaving the message was dumb. It means he's someone we've come across already, maybe even interviewed.'

Elaine gave a harsh laugh. 'Well, Detective criminals are hardly known for their brains. It's a myth that serial killers are evil geniuses. Most of them have average IQs.'

'So why pull me off the case?'

Elaine sighed, and then turned to Frankie, who had been watching the exchange with increasing fascination. Gail was not allowing her mother to cower her. In fact, Frankie was impressed by the way Gail was standing up to the Superintendent, especially given how formidable the older woman was.

'Will you give us a moment, Detective Anderson,' Elaine asked and Frankie nodded.

She realized she hadn't spoken one word since Elaine had swept into the room. Frankie was no shrinking violet, in fact she had never been one not to speak her mind, yet she found herself silenced by Elaine Peck and somewhat floored by her ability to quell any opposition as she walked all over you. Even in this brief exchange, the Superintendent had left Frankie in no doubt she was inferior and Frankie could only speculate what it must have been like growing up with Elaine as a mother.

Once Frankie left the room, Elaine turned back to Gail. 'This investigation has too many parallels with the Perick case for you to remain on it.'

'Why the sudden concern now? You didn't even show up after Perick.'

'Are you completely certain that your abduction will not compromise your ability to do your job?'

'Yes, I am,' Gail faltered for a moment, biting her bottom lip and then stopping herself as she realized her mother knew her well enough to recognize it and her hesitation as a sign of doubt. Taking in a breath, Gail continued in a stronger voice, 'I can, in fact I am handling this case. Mother, did it occur to you that my experience with Perick might give me some insight that could benefit this investigation.'

Gail knew she wasn't being entirely truthful. Even if she was getting better at dealing with the nightmares, she couldn't deny that since they found the first four bodies in the woods the nightmares had occurred with greater frequency. Just the mere fact of Holly seemed to help, but was it healthy to rely so much on one person to keep her grounded. Gail would have to ask her therapist about that, although chances were Leslie would throw the question back at her.

'I will not have you used as bait for a serial killer,' said Elaine, her voice tight, and Gail found it slightly jarring that her mother had unwittingly used the same words as Holly to describe Gail's role in drawing Perick out. 'And we don't want a repeat of what happened to Detective Barber.'

'So you think I'm a fuck up. Nothing changes does it? Damm it, Elaine! I'm a good detective. The results prove it,' said Gail, hating her mother for bringing up Jerry. She may have learned how to control the shadowy fears that came from being tied up in that basement and repeatedly drugged, and to suppress the feeling of helplessness that resurfaced when out of the blue something – it may be as innocuous as a sound or an odor let alone a case like this - triggered memories of that ordeal, but nothing would expunge the guilt she felt for Jerry's death.

'I didn't say you were incompetent,' Elaine paused, 'or a fuck up as you so delicately put it. I know you're a good detective. In fact I hear you're to get a much deserved commendation for your work undercover in Vancouver.'

Gail almost did a double take at this information. She wasn't sure what surprised her more - the commendation or her mother's seemingly genuine praise. She had expected Elaine to chalk that operation up as a failure given her intervention on Gail's behalf.

'Then why are you so determined to get me off this case and why are you meddling in my life again?' Gail said quietly. 'It was kind of better when you weren't speaking to me.'

Elaine normally kept her features composed. In fact this was what made her infamous reprimands so intimidating because her face remained impassive even as she tore strips off the person who was the unfortunate object of her wrath. However now, just for the briefest of moments, she looked pained.

'It's just that.' Uncharacteristically Elaine, who usually made it a point not to break eye contact, looked away from Gail and then back at her. 'I'm worried about you. I don't think its fair or right that you are put through this again, Gail.'

Gail blinked. Now this was even more surprising.

'I want to work this case. If I believed my past was making me ineffective in my job, I'd ask to be reassigned.'

'I'm not sure you or Detective Anderson are capable of making that judgment,' said Elaine stiffly.

'Frankie is a very good detective. Even if you kick me off the investigation, she should still run it.'

'Your loyalty is admirable Gail, but this investigation has become too big for a team of this size. You haven't even viewed the hours of footage taken from the bars let alone followed up all possible leads.'

'So give Detective Anderson more officers,' Gail cut in.

'And Detective Anderson does not have the necessary experience for a case of this type. No matter how effective she is at clearing cases, she was only promoted to senior detective because of the ridiculous panic that overtook the force when Santana was exposed,' Elaine continued, ignoring Gail's interruption.

'You're wrong about Frankie.'

'Nor does this team have the expertise necessary to track down a serial killer,' Elaine said, again ignoring Gail's comment. 'We need to bring in a profiler and we need people familiar with this kind of case. Not to mention the fact that the media has got hold of the story. I've been fielding calls from them all day.'

Before Gail could reply, there was a knock at the door and Oliver stuck his head into the room.

'Ah, sorry to interrupt Superintendent, but there's something you need to see on the news,' Oliver said walking into the room, followed by Frankie.

He went over to a TV set on the far wall and flicked it on. Kevin Michaels, the jogger from this morning, was at the dumpsite describing how he had found the bodies. The interview must have been recorded later in the day because his running gear had been replaced by a suit and tie.

'They were both blonde,' Kevin was telling the interviewer, 'I think they'd been tied up and one of them had a message written on her body. I got the feeling these weren't the first women like this the police had found.'

The item cut to a shot of the reporter, a young woman with long black hair and an earnest expression. 'Toronto police were contacted but refused to comment on the case, saying it was an on-going investigation, but an unnamed source inside the force has confirmed that there is a serial killer on the prowl in Toronto who is targeting young, blonde women. This is Melanie Chavez reporting for CTV,' she said.

Elaine turned to the other three, her eyes narrowed. 'This investigation has turned into a train wreck. Did you not think to keep the media away?'

'We did our best to contain them but as you know Superintendent it is not illegal for people to photograph or film crime scenes that are in public places. By the time we got there bystanders had already posted photos on social media,' Frankie said, trying to keep her voice level.

'Your best was not good enough. I'm sure you can imagine how this will create unnecessary panic in the community. Let alone the fact that we now might face the prospect of copycats. And who on your team is leaking to the media?'

'Uh, I don't believe any of them would do that,' Frankie said.

'Well, that will be your first task. To find the leaker. Detective Peck you are no longer required,' Elaine said dismissively.

Gail regarded her mother with disbelief but didn't make a move to leave.

'If you disregard an order, I will have you up for insubordination,' Elaine said, her voice cold.

'So that's how we're playing this,' Gail said. This time she did leave, but as she reached the door she turned and said, 'Good luck Frankie, I think you're going to need it now,' knowing full well that this would incense her mother further and not caring if that made her immature.

As Gail shut the door, Elaine sighed. 'I have asked Doctor Stewart to join us for the briefing. She is due shortly. It was best we dealt with Detective Peck before the doctor's arrival.'  
…................................................................................................................................

Gail found the rest of the team in a huddle outside the room.

'Are you okay?' Dov asked.

'Dandy,' Gail replied as she brushed past them.

'Where are you going?' Chloe asked.

'Locker room. Am I allowed to use the bathroom by myself?'

In the locker room, Gail gazed at herself in the mirror. She knew she was beautiful, more as a matter of fact than vanity, but the face reflected back at her was tight with tension and there was a bleakness about it that she hadn't seen for a long time. It seemed all it took was the reappearance of Elaine for Gail's childhood self, full of distrust and hostility and acrimony, to reemerge.

It was as if she were being punished for daring to think her life might be shaping into something good and true, for gaining a measure of confidence about her place in the world and taking joy from having found in Holly a love so great. Because of course she wasn't allowed to have dreams or expectations, not if they didn't match up with those of her parents. That thought didn't fill her with self-pity but rather a sense of loss. And yet, and yet for a moment back there, Elaine seemed to soften, to show she cared for Gail, but then hurriedly pushed that aside and moved on. Clearly caring was a sign of weakness, Gail thought. She looked at her reflection and saw uncertainty and she wondered what she should do now.  
…................................................................................................................................

The briefing was coming to an end.

'Sandra has agreed to cancel FindLove for next week at least,' Frankie was explaining.

'Good, we'll need to convince her to shut down until this case is over,' Elaine said.

'Won't that make Gail his only target?' Holly asked, worry creasing her brow. 'I mean, he may cast a wider net for his victims but serial killers don't generally like to change their MO. Aren't you just forcing him to focus on Gail.'

'We have no choice, Holly,' Frankie said a little apologetically, 'We have a duty to protect all citizens.'

'I know,' Holly began but the Superintendent spoke over her.

'Detective Anderson, I expect the team here tomorrow at 7.30 am sharp. I'll introduce the new team members then and allocate tasks. If you could go and inform the team now,' Elaine said in a dismissive tone. 'Dr Stewart, a word before you go.'

Once Frankie and Oliver had left, Elaine turned to Holly. 'Do you think it right that I took my daughter off this case?'

'I can't answer that. I'm her girlfriend but you're also her mother so your judgment may be just as impaired.'

Elaine bristled slightly.

'And if you're shutting down FindLove then you need to protect Gail and the only way you can do that is by keeping her close,' Holly said. As she left the room, her phone pinged with an incoming message.

Hottest Detective: At home drinking tequila

That wasn't a good sign Holly thought, although at least this time Gail had messaged her whereabouts instead of disappearing on her. Holly was about to call Gail when Frankie returned.

'Gail's missing,' she said, sounding a little frantic, 'no one's seen her since the Superintendent finished with her.'

'She just messaged me. She's at home. Drinking tequila.'

'Oh, not good, ' said Frankie and Holly nodded her head in agreement.  
…................................................................................................................................

Gail was sitting at the kitchen table when Holly, Frankie and Chloe arrived, almost jostling each other as they came thorough the door in their hurry to get to her. If Gail hadn't been so drunk she would have burst out laughing at how comical it looked, but the tequila had slowed her senses so all she did was look at them quizzically before saying, 'Ah the posse has arrived or is it the keystone cops.'

On the table was a shot glass and a bottle of Casa Dragones Joven, a tequila made entirely from blue agave plant and produced in such small quantities that the crystal bottle it came in was individually numbered and decorated by hand by Mexican artisans. Holly knew it cost around $300 a bottle. Lisa had given it to Gail as a thank you for having her to stay after the drama in her apartment. Gail had been suitably impressed, deciding to keep it for a special occasion.

'You know you have to savor it,' Lisa couldn't help saying at the time as she handed over the bottle.

'Yes, yes Lisa, I'm not a complete philistine. You sip this tequila, you don't use it for shots,' Gail had rolled her eyes.

Holly noted that about a third of the bottle was gone. Five maybe six shots she calculated. That explained Gail's state. If her slurred words weren't a dead giveaway, her glassy eyes confirmed how drunk she was. She wasn't used to drinking much these days.

Arrayed on the table in front of Gail were a number of guns, including a semi-automatic pistol that had been stripped down to its parts. Next to it was cleaning solvent, gun oil, cotton wool, a small brush, a cleaning rod and a polishing cloth.

'What are you doing, Gail?' Holly asked gently, indicating the cache of guns.

'Cleaning my guns,' Gail said, making no attempt to disguise her look of incredulity that Holly would be asking such an obvious question.

'That's a lot of guns,' Holly said, trying not to let her distaste for the weapons show.

'Seven to be exact. What is the perfect present for every Peck birthday? Why a pistol of course,' Gail said popping the 'ps' and throwing out her hands in a showman like gesture, the last bit said in a gleeful tone that Holly knew masked bitterness. 'I have another eight at my parent's house, and two rifles. But Holly, don't think you need to give me another gun for my birthday. Just a nice dinner out and sex afterwards, well lots of sex, will do.'

'Okay,' said Holly cautiously, a placatory tone in her voice, 'I think that can be arranged.'

'Why are you cleaning the guns?' Frankie asked bluntly, eschewing Holly's conciliatory approach.

Gail raised a finger as if to make a point and arranged her face into a serious expression, 'Because Frankie I'm turning my house into a fortress. I'm going to put a gun in every room. So if the serial killer comes knocking I can just shoot him,' Gail shrugged and smiled, 'Good plan?'

'No. Not a good plan,' Frankie said.

'Alternatively I could just drink tequila. This is really good tequila. We should all have a shot,' she said reaching for the bottle but Chloe swiped it off the table first.

'That's probably enough for now, Gail,' she said.

'Hmm. You're probably right Princess,' Gail pushed back her chair and stood unsteadily, 'I'm going to have a shower and wash the stench of Superintendent Mom off me.'

With that Gail walked past the three women, taking very deliberate steps so she wouldn't wobble, and then went up the stairs.

'I'll put these guns away. Does Gail have a gun safe?' Frankie asked.

'Yeah, in the spare room. The combination is her epaulette number in reverse, followed by Holly's date of birth,' Chloe said and Frankie looked over at Holly.

'15th January,' she supplied.

'I'll make some dinner. Gail should probably eat,' Chloe said.

Frankie nodded and began gathering up the guns.

'I guess I should go see if Gail's alright,' Holly said, gesturing towards the stairs and suddenly feeling a little awkward. Really she didn't know Frankie or Chloe that well, in fact Frankie had more or less confessed she'd fallen for Gail, and yet here they were conspiring to rescue Gail from herself.

'Good idea,' Chloe said, 'She doesn't have much hair to cut off, but you never know.'

Frankie laughed then. Holly was surprised that the two women knew about the hair incident in her bathtub. Clearly Gail was comfortable enough with the pair to share something she had once told Holly was no one's business. When they'd first been together, Gail had refused to explain to her friends why she had left the hospital with long hair and returned to work the next morning with it cropped short.

'It's a lesbian thing,' Gail had told Chris in a deadpan voice.

'What do you mean?' Chris had looked confused.

'You know, part of the regulations. You have to have short hair. It's in the handbook.'

'But Holly has longhair,' Chris started to say and then realized Gail was messing with him.

Upstairs, Holly found Gail in the bathroom standing still and seemingly staring into space. She was still fully clothed.

'Do you need some help?' Holly asked tentatively.

Gail looked directly at Holly, a smile spreading across her face. 'Trying to get me naked, Dr Stewart.'

'Well, it’s generally a good idea if you plan to shower,' Holly said, moving in front of Gail and lifting the bottom of her shirt.

'Nuh,' Gail grabbed Holly's wrist, 'Only if you get in with me.'

'Gail, you're drunk. I don't think it's wise.'

Gail pouted then in a way Holly found too adorable to resist. Even in her intoxicated state, Gail knew Holly had crumbled and she lent in to kiss her a little sloppily.

'Now you can undress me,' Gail said with an impish smile and then started unbuttoning Holly's shirt with surprising dexterity for someone who had drunk as much as she had.

In the shower, Holly backed Gail in under the nozzle and reached behind her to turn on the taps.

'Oh god, it's freezing,' Gail half squealed, half laughed making Holly vividly recall that time in her bathtub two years ago when she had maneuvered a dunk Gail under the shower and Gail had said the same thing. Back then when all they'd done was kiss intensely in the interrogation room and hold hands at the hospital, and yet Holly felt so sure about Gail even though Gail had confessed to being skittish in relationships.

Back then Gail was also off kilter as her emotions seesawed between grief and elation, and the need to pull Holy close and then push her away, and all of that wrapped up in a bundle of self-deprecating snark. Holly had believed it was just concern for Oliver and Chloe that had put Gail on edge. That and the onset of shock as Gail finally allowed herself to think about the fact that she too had been shot at, let alone what was happening with Holly, which for different reasons Holly suspected was both wonderful and confronting in its newness for Gail. What Holly didn't know and should have guessed, as Gail itemized every part of her life she regarded as a disaster on her hacked off pony tail, was that the shooting had brought up Gail's own trauma and reminded her of her own vulnerabilities

Holly's reverie was broken as Gail placed her hands around either side of Holly's face and leaned in again to kiss her. The water was warmer now and, as Gail deepened the kiss, Holly couldn't help but respond but when Gail ran a hand up over her stomach, stopping to cup her breast, Holly pulled back.

'Gail, you're too drunk for shower sex.'

'Really Holly, I feel quite sober now you've dowsed me in cold water,' Gail moved in again and kissed Holly slowly and deliberately when before the shower her kiss had been loose and messy.

Holly broke the kiss and leaned over to turn off the shower.

'You're no fun,' Gail said and the pout was back again.

Holly could feel her resolve waiver. She grabbed two towels, wrapping one around herself and the other around Gail and then led her back into the bedroom. Here Gail pushed Holly back on the bed and then followed, her hand slipping between the gap in Holly's towel to find her center and Holly couldn't help but moan. Without looking, she knew Gail was smiling, a fact that was confirmed as Gail leant down to pull Holly's bottom lip between her own, nipping it lightly in the way she knew Holly liked.

Afterwards they lay tangled together on the bed. Gail's hair, still half wet from the shower, was sticking up in tufts and Holly thought it made Gail look even more adorable. She realized they were both grinning at each other.

'Feeling pleased with yourself,' Holly teased.

'Oh very,' Gail replied, her grin widening, 'you're such a pushover Stewart.'

'You really want to put that to the test, Gail?'

'I thought I already had and with very satisfying results,' Gail smirked. Despite all that had happened that day, she felt calm now. She was continually astonished by the way in which just being around Holly soothed her. And then there was the sex. Even though it was sometimes frantic and always passionate, its physical intensity matched by its emotional force, it left Gail feeling safe and tranquil, newly able to face whatever the outside world threw up at her. It dawned on Gail that this was because she had finally found a place where she belonged and where she was unequivocally loved and where she loved in return.

'You know I love you,' she said now and Holly nodded, 'and I get why you're scared for me. When Lucia drugged me and I believed I was going to die, I felt this indescribable sadness that I would miss this.' Gail gestured between herself and Holly. 'Miss us I mean and all the possibilities of what we could have been, and after we'd only just found each other again.'

Holly was silent as a single tear leaked from the corner of one eye. Gail brushed it away gently.

'I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted you to know I understand. Losing you would destroy me.'

Holly nodded.

'So I guess I don't blame you if you're relieved that Elaine kicked me off the case.'

This time Holly shook her head. 'No, I'm not. I think you're much better off at work surrounded by as many police officers as possible.'

Gail laughed mirthlessly. 'Well, she wants to send me away on vacation.'

'Okay, when do we leave?'

'Um, I think she just means me singular. She's not going to let go of the hotshot forensic pathologist that easily.'

'Well, you're not going anywhere without me,' Holly said firmly.

Gail suddenly turned serious again. 'I'm sorry for bringing more drama into your life, Holly. Why does someone as good as you put up with me?'

Holly should have been astounded that, after all that had passed between them, Gail needed to ask this question but she knew the encounter with Elaine Peck was likely to blame for Gail's self-doubt. It seemed Elaine's capacity to cut Gail down had not diminished. Holly tilted her head to one side and smiled. 'Because you are good Gail, and I'm lucky to have you.'

'Really. I promised you romance and all we've managed is half a date. Our relationship - even that first time - has been so overtaken by these crazy outside stresses we haven't even had time to get to know each other properly.'

'I feel like I know you pretty well, Gail.'

'On some levels yes, but I don't even know what your favorite color is.'

'I bet you can guess,' Holly said playfully.

'Oh all right, blue,' Gail pretended to huff.

'Correct first time and, based on what you seem to wear all the time, yours would be black.'

'It used to be, back when I was a Goth, but now sometimes it's purple, other times green. I like blue too,' Gail shrugged, 'and red's okay.'

'Trust Gail Peck to be so contrary you can't even chose a favorite color!'

Gail shrugged again.

'And you were a Goth?'

'Yeah. When I was fifteen. I did it mainly to annoy Elaine. I dyed my hair black too.'

'I think I'll need to see photos.'

'Only if I can see ones of mini nerd Holly.'

'Peck, what makes you think I was a nerd when I was growing up.'

Gail gave Holly a look.

'Oh, okay. Yes I was.'

'Is it wrong that I rely so much on you to make me feel okay?' Gail asked.

'We make each other happy, what's wrong with that?'

'Nothing,' Gail shook her head, realizing that even in this moment, stolen from the pressure of an investigation and the intervention of her overbearing mother, that Holly did make her happy. No one had ever made her laugh or as playful as Holly did.

'And I pretty sure you were feeling okay with the world before we got back together again, and I know you've worked on that, so I don't think it's down to me. But Gail, I'm not saying it’s right, but I think your mother is acting like she is because she does care about you.'

'She has a strange of showing it.'

'Well, I seem to remember when we first met you had some strange ways of showing you cared. And look at you now.'

'You're to blame Holly. You just make me feel things,' Gail whined, but the complaint was feigned.

'Really,' said Holly huskily, shifting so she was lying on top of Gail. She leant on one arm while she ran her right hand up Gail's leg to the top of her thigh, 'Things like this.' As she spoke, Holly moved her hand between Gail's legs and slipped just the tip of one finger inside her, 'oh, you are still so wet.'

'Whose fault is that,' Gail said, pushing up to kiss Holly just as Holly moved her fingers up to her clit.

Before things could advance any further, there was a tentative knock on the door and they heard Chloe say, 'Ah guys, sorry to interrupt but dinner is ready.'

Gail pushed her head back on the pillow and groaned.

'Okay, thanks,' Holly managed to call out, 'we'll be down in a minute.'

'What I have planned will take more than a minute,' Gail huffed.

'No, dinner first. We can continue this after,' Holly said pulling herself up off the bed and then looking down at Gail, 'and sorry Peck that pout is not going to work this time.'

As they came downstairs, Frankie was coming through the front door with a duffel bag.

'Chloe gave me a spare key,' she said by way of explanation, 'I've brought some of my stuff over.'

Gail nodded.

In the kitchen, Chloe had set the table with steaming bowls of jasmine rice and was serving up a Thai red chicken curry.

'I thought we needed comfort food,' she said.

Just as they sat down, a phone rang. The sound was coming from within the jacket Gail had draped over a kitchen chair when she had come home earlier.

'Ignore it,' Holly said.

Gail looked at Frankie. 'It's the undercover phone. It must be Trent. Should I pick it up?'

Frankie paused and then nodded. Gail dug the phone out of the jacket and, as she answered, walked out of the kitchen into the backyard. She was back a moment later. Chloe, Frankie and Holly looked at her expectantly.

'He wants to meet tomorrow. For a private session.'


	18. Eighteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….
> 
> Life has been extremely hectic so I've posted this in a bit of a hurry – apologies for any mistakes.

‘No,’ Elaine said, ‘There is no reason to suspect that Trent Savage has anything to do with this case so there is no point getting Detective Peck involved.’

‘Gail had a feeling about him,’ Frankie persisted.

‘A feeling? Do you mean a hunch, Detective?’ Elaine scoffed. ‘It is not the way we solve cases. This is the police force. We meticulously gather evidence and analyze it. We are not living in the pages of pulp fiction where the gumshoe goes on gut feeling and little else. This is the real world, detective.’

‘Gail is very good at reading people, and if that amounts to intuition then I’d count on it.’

‘I don’t think reading people has ever been one of my daughter’s strong suits,’ Elaine said.

‘Maybe not when it comes to herself or people she’s close to, but I’ve supervised Gail for the last year now, ever since she was promoted to Detective, and I’ve learnt to trust her instincts about people. It’s helped us make a lot of collars.’

‘Hmm,’ Elaine said skeptically, twisting her mouth a little in displeasure in a way that immediately reminded Frankie of Gail. ‘Let’s say I indulge you. Get Detective Epstein to do some digging into Trent’s past and if he turns up anything interesting I’ll reconsider.’

‘That sounds fair,’ Frankie said.

‘But Detective Anderson, don’t think this a back door way of getting my daughter reinstated on this case. If, and it is a very big if, we decide Trent is someone of interest there are plenty of other ways to get to him, rather than send in my daughter.’

Frankie nodded. Just how the hell did Elaine think she was going to get to Trent without Gail? It wasn’t like they had months or even weeks to send someone in undercover to gain his trust. If he was the killer they needed to act fast before he murdered any more women, let alone Gail. 

The last thought made Frankie shudder internally. Elaine Peck didn’t realize just how apprehensive Frankie was about pulling Gail back into the investigation and potentially making her an even bigger target, but she felt like they had no choice. Besides Frankie agreed with Gail. She’d be much safer surrounded 24/7 by police officers than banished to God knows where by Elaine.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Gail lay stretched out on the couch in Holly’s office. Her head still throbbed a little from the tequila she’d drunk the previous evening despite the pain killers and a glass of water Holly handed her when she woke and despite Chloe’s ‘hangover’ breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup and crispy bacon and despite two very strong coffees. She was still wearing Holly’s aviators, which she’d swiped off Holly as they left the house and stepped out into a day that Gail described as ‘fucking blinding’ and which Holly, under normal circumstances, would have thought a rather glorious spring morning.

‘It’s your fault, Holly,’ Gail whined from her supine position on the couch.

‘What is?’ Holly asked without looking up from her computer. It seemed hungover Gail had regressed several decades.

‘That my head hurts.’

This time Holly did look up and regarded Gail with bemusement. ‘I don’t recall forcing those shots down your throat.’

‘No, Superintendent Mom had a hand in that.’

Holly gave Gail a sympathetic look. 

‘But it is still your fault because you wouldn’t have sex with me this morning.’

‘I’m not following Gail,’ Holly said patiently even if she did feel a little exasperated. It was almost like talking to a small child.

‘Sex. Holly. It’s a hangover cure. Well, sex with you sees to work like that for me.’

‘Well, there is a reason for that. We release endorphins during sex and endorphins act as natural painkillers on the central nervous system and so can lessen a headache. And being sexually aroused causes you to release a peptide called oxytocin, which increases your threshold for pain. During an orgasm your brain is literally flooded with oxytocin. It’s sometimes referred to the love molecule, because its supposed to be crucial in human pair-bonding but it also helps us with trust.’

‘And you denied me that pain relief knowing how bad I’m feeling,’ Gail huffed dramatically. 

‘Gail,’ Holly drew out the word and sighed. Normally Gail’s antics would have amused her, but Holly was due to meet Dr Carral in 10 minutes to interview for two new intern positions and she really needed to finish reviewing the applications before that. Perhaps it hadn’t been such a great idea bringing Gail to work. With Gail banished from 15, Holly hadn’t wanted to leave her alone at home to brood or worse to be a sitting duck for the killer. 

‘Who designated it bring your girlfriend to work day?’ Gail had asked when Holly suggested it. 

‘Me,’ Holly had replied brightly, adding ‘can you do it to make me feel better.’ 

Gail had agreed with an ‘oh, alright’, but when they got to the office, much to Gail’s chagrin, Holly banned touching or kissing, saying she couldn’t have any distractions. Right now, as Holly launched into a dissertation on oxytocin Gail desperately wished she could kiss her. Even the constant thrum in her head didn’t stop her finding Holly’s geek out adorable.

‘Wait, wait oxy,’ Gail asked, sitting up suddenly and then cursing because the sudden moment made her head swirl and dip and pound just a little more. ‘Like the stuff they gave me in hospital that makes me act kinda of weird’

Holly suppressed a smile, ‘You mean weirder than usual.’

‘Ha, ha. Very funny, Stewart.’

‘But no Gail, that’s oxycodone. It’s an opioid, a narcotic and a very powerful one.’

Before Holly could continue, there was a soft tap on the door and Sally, Holly’s admin assistant, bustled in.

‘I’ve brought you a cup of mint tea, dear,’ she said addressing Gail, having worked out from one glance at the blonde as she trailed Holly into the office that she was somewhat worse for the wear this morning. ‘Best to rehydrate. So avoid coffee and drink water and herbal tea.’ 

Sally’s tone was gentle and maternal. Most people who knew Gail Peck would have expected her to respond with a sharp retort but instead Gail started to nod but then thought better of it and instead gave Sally a genuine smile and took the proffered tea. 

Holly watched fascinated, her lips quirking to one side as she gave into amusement. In the brief time Sally had worked for her, she seemed to have taken a shine to Gail. 

In fact, Holly was the best boss Sally had had in her twenty-five years with the forensics department. The pathologist was conscientious, considerate, even tempered and never made Sally feel like an inferior, and it hadn’t taken long for Sally to work out that Gail put a smile on Holly’s face. If that hadn’t been reason enough for Sally to have a soft spot for Gail, then Elaine Peck was. Over the years Sally had had her fair share of encounters with Superintendent Peck and she wasn’t quite sure how any child could survive Elaine’s harsh regime. As a consequence she felt obliged to mother Gail and for some reason Gail tolerated her fussing.

‘And Dr Stewart, Dr Carral is ready for you in the conference room,’ Sally said to Holly almost as an afterthought.

After Holly left, Gail pulled out her iPad and searched for the Toronto Star. The lead story was on the investigation. Serial killer stalks Toronto was the headline. Great, thought Gail, nothing like panicking the public. What struck her though as she read through the article was that it contained information that only the police were privy to. Elaine was right. They had a leaker. Gail had met Martha Fisher, the Star’s crime reporter, on another case and the journalist had immediately tried to cultivate her as a potential source. Perhaps she assumed all the Peck’s were unethical and Gail was an easy mark. But if corruption hadn’t been anathema to Gail, Martha’s fawning and flattery would have been enough to put her off. 

Gail sighed as she kept reading. Elaine would be livid. The sensationalism of the coverage would only make their job harder. Well not hers. She was on indefinite leave. Finishing her tea, she went in search of Rodney, who she found in his office, a small space not far from the conference room where Holly and Rueben Carral were conducting the interviews.

‘Hey, Rodney,’ Gail said, leaning against the doorjamb.

‘Uh, hi detective, I mean Gail,’ Rodney said, looking up from his computer and reddening as he struggled with how to address Gail. 

When they had worked together on the cold case they’d become improbable friends of sorts and Gail had instructed him to stop calling her detective and by her first name, especially as she always called him Rodney. But he was a stickler for protocol, a fact she’d discovered two years back when she’d tried to persuade him to rehydrate a thumb rather than fetch Holly, who Gail had been determinedly ignoring for weeks. That was a bleak time.

‘I thought you were off the case,’ he now said, a little warily, knowing Gail would not be happy to be removed from the investigation.

‘Yeah. It seems that way but,’ she shrugged, not wanting to reveal that she was here to stop Holly worrying, ‘had nothing to do so thought I’d hang around and annoy you guys.’

Rodney gave an uncertain laugh but seemed to accept Gail’s explanation.

‘Soo, Rodney,’ Gail said, a slight wheedling tone to her voice, ‘anything new on the case from your end.’

‘Um, Detective, Gail, I don’t think I can, I mean I’m not sure I’m supposed to. You know the Superintendent was in here early this morning warning us not to talk about the case to anyone not working directly on it.’ 

Interesting, thought Gail and wondered if Holly knew about that. She wasn’t going to push Rodney to tell her anything. That was her mother’s style. If Rodney wasn’t comfortable talking to her, she’d just have to accept that. Besides, Holly and Frankie were sure to tell her any way. Still she was curious to know more about the meeting.

‘Bet she didn’t say it that nicely and I bet she specifically warned you not to speak to me,’ Gail said, imagining the wave of fury Elaine would have crashed down upon their heads. When Rodney looked at a loss for how to respond, she continued, ‘It’s okay, I know what my mother’s like, believe me. So who was at the meeting?’

‘Dr Carral, myself and the technicians who worked the crime scene and were present during the autopsies.’

‘She thinks someone’s leaking.’

‘I guessed that,’ Rodney nodded, ‘I doubt it would come from here.’

‘Doesn’t matter. She’d still see it as her duty to dress you down. The Superintendent believes in a rule based on fear. What’s so stupid is people are more likely to betray you if they feel bullied or intimidated.’

Rodney nodded again and then looked as if he were deciding on something. Finally he spoke.

‘She wants Aaron Schmidt to take a DNA test. Officers Price and McNally are bringing him in. I’m on standby to take the sample if he agrees. Compare it with the arm hair we found on Patricia Weston.

‘I wouldn’t count on it. He’s the type to lawyer up and there’s not enough connecting him to the murders, at least to convince a judge to order him to do the test. It’s hard to see how he could have raped those women and with such force when he has a broken leg and arm. Anyway, wouldn’t the cast have left some sort of mark on the women’s bodies?’

‘Most probably,’ Rodney agreed, ‘and it would be hard to strangle someone with your arm in a cast.’

‘I don’t think he’s the perp,’ Gail said, ‘although it makes sense for Elaine to rule him out. Rodney, you definitely didn’t find any evidence that any of the women were drugged?’

Rodney shook his head. ‘And none of them had head injuries or even bruising consistent with a blow to a head which might have knocked them unconscious.’

‘So, if they weren’t drugged and they weren’t knocked out, why weren’t they screaming? And why didn’t anyone hear them? There’s no indication they were gagged.’

‘No’ Rodney said.

‘What if the perp had help? All you’d need is someone with a gun and the women would be helpless and even a guy with a broken leg and arm can wield a gun.’

Rodney was about to answer when his phone rang. After a brief conversation that consisted mostly of him saying, ‘I see, yes, of course, yes,’ he hung up and turned to Gail.

‘That was Detective Anderson. You were right. Aaron Schmidt has asked for a lawyer and is refusing to cooperate.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Ah Superintendent Peck,’ Dov knocked on one of the partitions that had been arranged to form a sort of temporary office for Elaine in the Incident room. It hadn’t gone unnoticed that when Frankie was in charge she’d felt no such need to separate herself and instead worked alongside the team.

‘Yes, Detective Epstein,’ Elaine said irritably, breaking off from her conversation with Frankie who had been arguing that they didn’t have enough on Aaron to get a court order to force him to take a DNA test. Elaine had simply barked ‘well get some more evidence’. 

‘I’ve found something on Trent Savage, well Savage and Aaron Schmidt.’

‘What do you mean?’ Elaine, just like Gail, had perfected that voice which suggested she was speaking to an imbecile.

‘Trent and Aaron went to the same high school. Aaron was three years younger but he had a brother in the same year as Trent.’

‘Could they be working together’ Frankie said, trying to contain the note of excitement in her voice at the thought that this might be the break through they’d been looking for.

‘Let’s not jump the gun Detective Anderson. It could be pure coincidence,’ Elaine warned although there was nothing judicious in her tone, rather her words were clearly intended to put Dov and Frankie in their place. ‘Did you find anything interesting about Savage?’

‘Above average student, a bit of a track star at high school but not enough to get him a scholarship. Spent two years at college before travelling and working in the US for four years. Mainly tending bar. He came back to Toronto four months ago and not long after got the job at the gym and as a bartender at the Cube. He runs free workout sessions for underprivileged kids once a week at the gym. He hasn’t had any run-ins with the law. Not even a speeding ticket.’

‘So community minded,’ Elaine observed.

‘It would seem so,’ Dov replied.

‘That doesn’t mean anything. Plenty of serial killers hide behind a veneer of respectability. Some have gone undetected for years because the police can’t believe such an upright citizen is capable of such atrocities.’

‘I’m well aware of that, detective,’ Elaine said a little coolly.

‘There is something else,’ Dov said, ‘Trent’s mother died when he was three and his father remarried not long after, to a Monique Becker. His father was killed in a car accident two years later and Monique brought up Trent. He came back to Toronto when she died. Take a look at her photo.’

With a slight flourish, Dov produced a color photograph. It was a studio portrait and looked to be have been taken when Monique was in her mid twenties. Her peroxide blonde hair had been swept into an up do with soft waves close to her scalp and her lips were pursed in a pouty bow and painted a bright shade of red. Blues eyes looked up from beneath hooded eyelids and lashes heavy with mascara. Her eyebrows arched seductively. It made Frankie think of a blonde bombshell from the golden age of Hollywood, although she noted there was a sharpness about Monique which had she been an actress would have seen her cast as the femme fatale. 

With a start Frankie realized she had seen Gail look very like Monique did in the photo. It was back when Chloe and Dov took over the lease for the frat house and threw a party where everyone had to come as a film star from the past. Gail had grumbled about the stupidity of it but turned up as Marilyn Monroe. Frankie thought it safe to say most people’s jaws dropped when Gail sashayed in wearing a red dress, the halter neck revealing more than a hint of cleavage and the silky material clinging revealingly to every contour of her body. Her hair was slightly longer then and she’d styled in big soft curls and lacquered her lips a bright red. With her cool beauty and the way she oozed an effortless sensuality, she looked every bit the film star.

Frankie couldn’t keep eyes off Gail or it turned out her hands. It was when they were still occasionally sleeping together. She’d ended up fucking Gail in Gail’s old room, pressing her up against the back of the door and pushing up Gail’s dress and then moving a hand inside her lacey red underwear. Frankie was thankful that someone had turned up the music loud, not too concerned that a party full of cops would have trouble with a noise complaint. Still Chloe had given them a knowing look when they came out of the room. 

Frankie shook her head. She hated the way this case kept reminding her of being with Gail, especially now she was completely out of Frankie’s reach. But then Frankie had always known that it was never about love for Gail and she couldn’t hold that against her, not when she herself had broken so many hearts. In fact, she knew Gail had put a stop to their arrangement as soon as she suspected Frankie was falling for her and there was something honorable in that. She became aware that the Superintendent was speaking.

‘Gail’s his type,’ she said with a sharp in-take of breath and Frankie thought it telling that Elaine used Gail’s first name.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gail was back in Rodney’s office. Ignoring Sally’s advice, she’d been across the road to a little hole in the wall café that made the best coffee in Toronto and came back with a cappuccino for Rodney and a double espresso for herself. 

‘You left the building alone,’ Rodney said, and Gail could tell from the note of alarm in his voice that he actually knew why Holly was keeping her close.

‘I’m a big girl, Rodney. I’m can cross the road by myself now,’ Gail drawled.

‘I know, it’s just with everything going on Dr Stewart wouldn’t like it.’

‘I’m back now so no need to fret. Hey, Rodney why’d you talk to me about the case when my mother told you not to?’

Rodney shrugged. ‘Dr Stewart and Detective Anderson would have told you anyway. And I sort of owe you, after that bet in Chicago.’

Gail laughed. ‘Rodney really, you’re still worried about that.’

Rodney swallowed. ‘Ah, should I be?’

Gail laughed again and didn’t reply but instead she looked out the glass wall that divided Rodney’s office from the corridor. She observed a tall geeky looking man with a pronounced overbite and limbs that seemed to be a little out sync with one another being ushered out of the conference room and escorted down the hallway by Sally.

‘One of the intern applicants?’ Gail asked and Rodney nodded. ‘ I wouldn’t trust him to have a steady hand in an autopsy.’

Rodney stifled a laugh. He really should have some sympathy for the guy. He was a massive geek himself, but somehow he was always drawn in by Gail’s irreverent humor. 

A few moments later, Sally reappeared with a woman and headed towards the conference room. The woman, who Gail guessed to be in her early twenties, was tall, with long black hair, olive skin, a perfectly shaped oval face and lips with just the right amount of fullness to give them a permanent pout that was sultry rather than sulky. Even more striking were her green eyes, which even from this distance Gail could see had a diaphanous quality that instead of making her gaze insipid, surprisingly, intensified it. She looked like she worked out just enough to be toned but not enough to take away curves that seemed to be in all the right places. Gail could tell by the way she walked with a confident swing of her hips that she was well aware of her attractiveness.

‘Wow, she’s um,’ Rodney said but then stopped.

‘Hot, you can say hot Rodney,’ Gail teased, ‘or are you worried you’re being unsound.’

‘Um, it’s not appropriate, you know in the workplace,’ Rodney said, rebuking himself more so than Gail.

‘I won’t tell. Will Holly have much to do with these interns?’

‘Ah yeah. The first three months they’ll shadow Dr Stewart on any autopsies she performs. She and Dr Carral take the program very seriously.’

‘Uh huh. Well, I hope the guy with the weird walk gets the job then,’ Gail said and then brightened as an idea struck her, ‘hey Rodney, let’s say we take bets on who gets the job.’ 

Rodney swallowed and tried not to look pained.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘We need Detective Peck to meet with Trent,’ Frankie stated firmly.

‘No, not till we find out more from the profiler,’ Elaine said. She had used her contacts to arrange for a profiler to be flown in from Quantico. Given there were so few cases of serial murder in Canada, she decided it best to bring in an expert from the United States.

‘But he’s not due here for another two days. The interval between kills is getting shorter. We can’t afford to waste any more time,’ Frankie insisted. 

‘We could speak to Aaron’s brother first and then decide,’ Dov offered, looking between the two women and trying not to shrink before their ferocious expressions he knew were directed at each other and not him. ‘I checked Aaron’s Facebook and they’re not friends. Aaron is openly contemptuous of his brother. His whole family in fact. He refers to his brother as Danny the do-gooder.’

‘It’s worth a shot,’ Frankie said, ‘we need to find out more about his relationship with Monique. How long ago did she die? 

‘Four months,' Dov said.

‘So, right before Alison and Elena were killed. Could Monique’s death have been the trigger that set off this killing spree?’

‘I still say we wait until we gather more information. If Trent is our killer we don’t want to alert him that we’re on to him. How do we know that Danny Schmidt is not in contact with him,' Elaine said, ignoring Frankie's question.

‘There is no evidence they’re in contact on any of the social media platforms Trent uses. Besides Danny’s a pastor at Unity Church. He followed in his father’s footsteps, Dov explained. 'The Church preaches clean living. Its followers don’t drink or smoke. And Pastor Danny and his wife Ellie see it as their mission to work with the homeless and victims of domestic abuse. ’

‘My, you have been thorough in your research and in such a short time too,’ Elaine commented, the sardonic edge to her voice belying the apparently complimentary words. 

Dov looked over at Frankie quizzically but she gave the slightest of shrugs. She couldn’t explain why Elaine was being so intransigent. Surely the threat to Gail was even more reason for the Superintendent to follow up a lead like this. Was Elaine so fearful of Gail being dragged back into the investigation she was blocking any lines of inquiry that could lead to Gail going undercover to entrap Trent.

‘Danny might be a good person to start with,’ Frankie said mildly, not wanting to put Elain offside. 'If he points the finger at Trent then we should start questioning his work colleagues, his boss, former teachers, classmates. Find out more about what he was doing when he was in America. Talk to Monique’s relatives.’

Elaine waited a beat before replying ‘Very well,’ she said finally, ‘I want you and Detective Epstein to question Danny. No need to alert the rest of the team just yet, although I suppose Officers Price and McNally already know.’ 

‘A little,’ conceded Frankie.

Elaine raised an eyebrow. ‘God knows what binds all of you into this insular and incestuous fellowship,’ she said, ‘I suppose we have Sergeant Shaw to thank for that. Really, your loyalty needs to extend beyond this group to the whole force.’

‘We’re Gail’s friends, of course we feel protective towards her,’ Frankie said, and Dov blinked at her nerve in responding to Elaine’s jab.

‘And I’m her mother, Detective. Do you seriously think I don’t care what happens to my daughter.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

At 3.30pm Holly returned to her office. The intern interviews had taken a little longer than anticipated and she hoped Gail was okay with being left for so long. When she and Dr Carral had stopped briefly for a break at lunchtime, Sally had informed her that Detective Peck was having lunch with Rodney. She could just imagine how ruthless Gail would be in her torment of Rodney, not having completely let him off the hook for that bet in Chicago. Still Rodney didn’t seem to mind Gail or her sometimes abrasive ways.

Holly rubbed a crick in her neck. God that last guy could talk and not much of what he said had any substance. Amazing how good some people looked on paper and how easily they were found wanting when they got to interview. Catching sight of Sally, she smiled and said, ‘Gail in my office?’

Sally shook her. ‘She must still be Dr Carlowski.’

‘Oh,’ Holly said, surprised, ‘I’ll just go let her know I’m finished.’ She pointed awkwardly down the corridor in the direction of Rodney’s office.

There was no one in Rodney’s office, so Holly made her way down to the autopsy suites where she found Rodney preparing for an incoming body.

‘An infant,’ he said sadly, ‘possibly cot death.’

Holly nodded sympathetically. Autopsies of children, especially babies, were always hard. 

‘Um, do you know where Gail went,’ she asked, her need to find Gail overriding her guilt at not asking Rodney more about the case.

‘Oh, she got a call from her brother. Went to visit him in the hospital.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Pastor Danny had Aaron’s good looks but where his brother was dissolute and conceited, Danny was avuncular and genial. He was heavier-set with a rounder face and there was a warmth to his eyes that suggested he’d be just as likely to soothe your troubles by enveloping you in a bear hug as preach a sermon. 

‘Trent was a cold fish. Don’t get me wrong, he was charming and he used that charm to get himself out of trouble on numerous occasions, but it was like he lacked empathy. He didn’t actually care what impact his actions had on others. I know I shouldn’t but I blame Trent for turning Aaron against the church,’ Danny was telling Frankie and Dov.

‘Why is that?’ Frankie asked.

‘Trent is very good at manipulating people and Aaron was in awe of him. He started hanging with Trent when he was 12 and he did anything Trent told him to, including skipping church. Most of Trent’s friends were younger than him. They were wild, drinking, smoking pot. Aaron had a few run-ins with the police – mainly underage drinking, shoplifting, although once a bunch of them smashed up a kindergarten. Trent never got caught.’

‘So is it likely Aaron would still be in touch with him?’

‘It’s possible. Trent left Toronto after he finished school and Aaron seemed to settle down for a bit. I got the feeling Trent dropped all his old friends when he moved away, but Aaron never came back to the church,’ Danny said, shaking his head sadly. 

‘What about Monique? His step-mother.’ Dov asked.

‘They didn’t have a good relationship. He had no other relatives so once his father Jim died, Monique was his sole parent and I think she resented that. She wanted to an actress and it was like Trent got in the way.’

‘How do you know all this?’ Frankie asked, ‘I get the feeling you weren’t that close to Trent.’

‘My parents offered Monique pastoral care after Jim Savage died. He was a member of the church. Mom organized a few play dates for me and Trent, had him for sleepovers. We were the same age so she thought we’d get along. But even then I got the feeling that he saw people as objects, as a means to an end. He was a compulsive liar too.’

‘How so?’ Frankie said.

‘When I was nine I saw him take my father’s pocketknife and he look me straight in the eye and denied it. That sort of thing happened on numerous occasions.’

‘So you said his relationship with Monique wasn’t good. Did she mistreat him?’ Frankie prodded.

‘As I said, he was wild, even from a young age. She couldn’t control him. My mother discovered Monique used to lock him in a room in the basement at night. She went away for a weekend and left him there. After that, we had Trent stay over more often, but then as he got older he drifted away. I was kind of relieved. He had my parents convinced he was a good guy, but I witnessed a different side and I could see the impact he was having on Aaron.’

Frankie nodded. She didn’t have a degree in phycology but the way Danny described Trent he had all the characteristics of a psychopath. 

‘If you do speak to Aaron, we’d appreciate it if you don’t tell him about this conversation,’ she said.

‘We don’t talk. I’ve tried over the years to get him to come to family occasions, you know birthdays, christenings, that sort of thing, but he’s not interested. Do you think Aaron and Trent are involved in these murders? 

‘We’re just checking out all leads at this stage,’ Frankie said.

‘Okay. If you need to speak to my parents they’ve retired to Kingston.’

‘Thanks,’ Frankie said, ‘and if you think of anything else here’s my card.’

Danny took the card and studied it for a moment. He seemed to be struggling with something before he spoke again.

‘Trent was accused of raping a girl when we were seniors. The girl ended up withdrawing the charges but apparently Aaron was there.’

‘He also assaulted the girl?’ asked Dov.

‘No, he watched and did nothing,’ Danny said, the disgust plain in his voice. 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Gail looked at herself in the mirror. After rummaging through her closet she found a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. It would have to do. Her running shoes were a bit worse for the wear but she had told Trent she wasn’t a gym junkie and they just proved it.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

At 5pm Frankie and Dov were back at the station filling in Elaine on their conversation with Danny, when Frankie got the call from Holly.

‘Gail left here at about 2pm to visit Steve and I haven’t heard from her since. She’s not picking up her cell phone,’ Holly explained to Frankie

‘Have you tried Steve’s phone?’

‘I don’t have his number.’

‘Okay, I’m with the Superintendent. I’ll get her to ring him and I’ll call you right back. It’s probably nothing to worry about. Maybe she just turned the phone off while she’s in the hospital,’ said Frankie trying to be reassuring but knowing that Gail was unlikely to have done that given the circumstances.

Elaine looked at Frankie questioningly and Frankie quickly explained why Holly had called.

‘I doubt Gail would be at the hospital,’ Elaine said, her brow creased in concern, ‘My husband is spending the afternoon with Steve. Gail and her father go out of their way to avoid seeing each other, but I’ll call him.’

Frankie and Dov waited while Elaine put the call through. They listened as Elaine asked if Bill had seen Gail, and then said impatiently ‘does it matter why, Bill. It is important. Has Steve seen her at all today?’

Once she disconnected, Elaine turned to them. ‘She hasn’t been to the hospital,’ Elaine said and Frankie could tell she was rattled.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Trent greeted Gail with an easy smile. 

‘Glad to see you took my offer,’ he said smoothly.

‘Well, I’m not going to guarantee that I’ll come back after today. The gym is not really my thing.’

‘I can see that,’ Trent said, looking at Gail and her outfit appraisingly.

‘Do I need to sign in?’ Gail asked.

‘Nah, the introductory session is free. Lets start by measuring your cardiovascular fitness,’ Trent said leading Gail away from the reception desk to a small room just off the main part of the gym. As he opened the door, another gym instructor walked past and gave Trent a wink.

‘How come you get all the beautiful blonde ones?’ he said.

‘Just lucky,’ Trent replied.

‘Yeah, I don’t know what you do to them, but they never seem to sign up for any more sessions,’ the instructor teased.

Fuck, thought Gail, maybe this was a really, really stupid idea.


	19. Nineteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….but I also don’t send lesbian characters to San Francisco or kill them off.
> 
> Actually I have this little fantasy that some rich lesbian will decide to finance a Rookie Blue spin-off with Gail and Holly as the main protagonists. One can only dream.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know!
> 
> As always apologies for any mistakes – I do my own proofing.

Elaine gripped the edge of the desk, her mouth set in a grim line.

‘Gail’s hasn’t been to the hospital,’ she repeated, ‘Steve hasn’t spoken to her today.’

Frankie nodded. ‘Okay, what do you want us to do now?’

‘I, I,’ Elaine looked about blankly, her usual steely composure deserting her. ‘Gail wouldn’t go after Trent on her own. She wouldn’t be that stupid would she?’

‘We don’t know for sure where she is but we need to check if she has gone to see Trent,’ Frankie said.

‘She has always been willful. I knew it would get her into trouble one day. I tried to curb it,' Elaine continued as if she hadn’t heard Frankie.

‘Superintendent, I need to know how you want us to handle this,’ Frankie tried again, her voice firmer this time.

‘Gail would know better than to act alone. She could lose her job for this.’

‘Okay, Dov see if you can get a trace on Gail’s phone,’ Frankie said decisively, realizing she needed to take control, ‘I’ll send McNally and Price over to the gym to check if she’s been there. Is Aaron still here at the station?’

‘No, he was released about an hour ago,’ Dov said.

‘So it’s unlikely Gail’s gone to see him, but I’ll ask Oliver to send a car to his apartment just in case and one to Trent’s address. Though if Trent has Gail I doubt he’d do something as obvious as take her there. I’ll get Diaz to check Gail’s house as well. There’s a chance she’s just gone home. I’ll keep trying Gail’s phone.’ Frankie turned to Elaine who was still looking stunned, ‘We’ll find her,’ she said with more confidence than she felt.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Leaving the gym Gail reflected that Trent had been nothing but professional and courteous. A little flirty yes, and most people would find it hard to resist his easy charm. Still there was something about him that unsettled her. Maybe it was the way the charm was laid on a little too thick or the feeling that his appraisal of her body had nothing to do with working out a program suited to her body type. 

Trent was clearly so used to people being drawn in by him that he was almost immediately over familiar, speaking to Gail as if they were old friends and touching her unnecessarily. It might be a hand on her lower back to guide her or a touch on her arm, but Gail found it disconcerting and wondered if that was because she was convinced he was the killer or if at some instinctual level she sensed something was off about him.

Still, Gail had banked on him behaving himself. Word hadn’t got out that she’d been removed from the case, and if Trent was the killer chances were he’d imagine she had backup. She had thought it unlikely he’d say anything to implicate himself, although the other instructor’s jibe about blonde women never coming back after the initial session was something Frankie would need to follow up. No, she’d merely hoped her presence would ramp up the pressure on him and that might lead to him making a mistake, leaving evidence or letting something slip, that would point the finger at him.

When Gail got in her car she saw she had twelve missed calls and seven text messages from Holly, and ten missed calls from Frankie.

‘Crap,’ she said out loud. 

Obviously they had discovered she’d slipped off. She’d left the phone in the car and taken the one issued to her for the FindLove undercover job figuring Trent might think it strange if she had two phones. Besides she wanted to maintain the fiction of the undercover persona even if she was fairly certain Trent knew who she really was.

Holly picked up on the first ring.

‘Oh my god, Gail is that you?’ she breathed out in relief.

‘Yes’ Gail said quietly, straightaway guilty that she’d made Holly sound so worried. 

‘You’re okay? Where are you? Where have you been? Frankie has people out looking for you. You need to go back to the station now.’

Just as Gail went to answer, the rear door on the driver’s side of the car was pulled open and Trent slipped into the back. Before she could react, he placed his hands around her throat, not too tightly but with enough pressure to make it hard for her to move. Gail immediately dropped the phone on the floor and, using her foot, nudged it under her seat. 

‘Making a call?’ Trent inquired, his voice devoid of its earlier charm but edged with menace, ‘Give me your cell.’

‘Why,’ Gail asked, surprised at how defiant she sounded when she could literally feel the panic rising inside, threatening to spill over. Without moving her head at all, she looked around for something she could use as a weapon. Escape would be impossible with Trent’s hands wrapped around her neck and anyway even if she managed to get out of the car he would just follow her. There was a gun in the glove compartment but the compartment was locked so she couldn’t get to it before Trent stopped her. Gail just hoped Holly would stay on the line so her cellphone could be traced.

‘I’d like to have this chat in private, so hand it over.’

Gail reached into the center console and picked up the undercover phone, awkwardly passing it back to Trent, who removed one of his hands from her throat in order to take it.

‘You think it’s me, don’t you Detective,’ he said.

‘I think it’s you what?’

‘Don’t play games detective,’ Trent said, using his free hand to stroke the side of Gail’s face, ‘I don’t find that attractive in a woman. I saw the news this morning. I read about those murders. Now I know why you’ve been sniffing around. You think I’m the FindLove killer.’

Even as she sat there, her body tensed in fear, willing every part of her brain to remain focused only on survival, Gail remembered that the media reports hadn’t mentioned FindLove. Trent had just put himself completely in the frame. 

Trent leaned in, his breath hot against the side of her face and Gail had a sudden flashback of Perick as he bent over her, tending the wound on her head, his almost tender ministrations repellent and his fetid breathe turning her stomach. Sweat gathered on her upper lip, even though she felt completely cold.

‘If I was your killer, do you think I’d take you now in broad daylight when you’ve probably got half a dozen cops watching you. I could tell you weren’t wearing a wire but I bet you had people in the gym didn’t you?’

When Gail didn’t answer, Trent tightened his grip around her neck. ‘I think you’ve become obsessed with me Detective,’ he said, his voice low and threatening. ‘It’s always the way with you women. You’re all interested but then when I pay you attention you cry rape.’

As Trent spoke he pressed his fingers into Gail’s throat so it became harder for her to breathe and she started to gasp. After a moment he released his hands and said ‘You’ll keep blondie, right now someone else needs my attention more than you’ and got out of the car. 

Even though the logical, the police trained, part of her brain was telling her to start the car and put as much distance as she could and as fast as possible between herself and Trent, Gail sat unmoving. She didn’t know how long she remained that way before she became aware of a noise coming from the phone beneath her seat. Just as she realized it was Holly repeatedly calling out her name, there was a tap on the driver’s side window that made her jump. 

Next Andy was yanking open the door and saying ‘Gail, are you alright?’

Gail shook her head numbly.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘I could have your badge for this,’ Elaine spat at Gail. The Superintendent’s body was so tightly wound and yet so motionless it reminded Frankie of a cobra about to strike. ‘You have jeopardized this entire operation with this ill-conceived infraction. I have no choice but to report you.’

‘No you won’t,’ Frankie said, in a tone that made it clear she wouldn’t accept any disagreement.

‘This is not your call, Detective,’ Elaine turned on Frankie, her eyes hard.

‘I’m making it my call,’ Frankie replied evenly, ‘if you intend reporting Gail up the line, I’ll inform them that when we believed Detective Peck’s life was in danger you froze and were unable to give an order on how we should proceed.’

‘You wouldn’t dare,’ Elaine said.

‘Yes I would, and I have Detective Epstein as a witness who will corroborate that you failed to carry out your duty. You questioned whether it was appropriate for Gail to be on this investigation but it seems like the only one who has let personal feelings get in the way of doing their job is you.’

Gail’s eyes went wide. If Elaine had reminded Frankie of a snake only a moment ago, now she made Gail think of an engine about to blow a gasket. The Superintendent’s face was red and she was clearly battling to calm her emotions. What struck Gail the most was Elaine’s incredulity that Frankie had the audacity to challenge her. Gail had never imagined she would ever see her mother so flummoxed and she felt like she owed Frankie big time for witnessing this. 

‘Besides,’ Frankie continued, ‘your blind spot about Trent, your reluctance to consider him a suspect, raises serious questions about your judgment. At the very least, if it weren’t for Gail’s intervention, it could have cost us valuable time. So, I suggest the three of us put aside any differences and figure out how to catch this guy. Which means Superintendent, Detective Peck must be reinstated on the case.’

Elaine gave a curt nod but didn’t look at Gail. For her part, Gail blinked in surprise. 

‘But,’ Frankie turned on Gail, ‘if you ever pull that kind of stunt on me again, if you ever decide to act alone and outside of an investigation while I’m your superior, I will report you.’

Gail nodded. When they worked together, Frankie normally gave her a lot of leeway and tolerated her quirks, but this time Gail knew she had crossed a line.  
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Frankie had suggested they regroup and review Gail’s conversation with Trent once Gail visited the morgue to have the marks on her neck examined and photographed.

‘Holly said there’s a chance they can lift his fingerprints. She said you should head over there now as fingerprints start to deteriorate after a few hours. You didn’t touch your neck did you?’

‘No’, Gail shook her head, noting that her encounter with Trent hadn’t deterred Holly and Frankie from focusing on the job, ‘but Trent didn’t leave any prints on the victims so how will it help?’

‘If forensics can lift prints from your neck and if Trent kills again and if he gets careless and leaves prints we’ll have a direct link.’

That was a lot of ifs and Gail certainly didn’t want to think about the possibility of more victims. Elaine hadn’t said anything since Frankie silenced her outburst, but now as Gail headed out the door she finally spoke.

‘Dr Stewart is coming to the station to give a statement about what she heard of the conversation in the car. That was quick thinking not hanging up.’ Elaine’s voice was quiet and held no trace of her earlier fury. 

Gail looked at her mother in surprise and nodded slowly before backing out of the Incident room. It didn’t make sense. Was Elaine offering an olive branch? Her mother had every right to report her. 

Gail was well versed in police procedure, having had it drummed into her from an early age, so even if Trent hadn’t directly threatened her, she knew she should never have approached him on her own. Gail realized with a jolt that her mother was right. She was too invested in this case, she felt too connected to those women, so carefully but yet so randomly selected to suffer and die, and it had clouded her judgment, making her ignore basic police training. 

Gail was convinced Trent was the killer and she had thought if she found something to implicate him then Frankie could persuade Elaine to consider him their prime suspect. She sighed. She’d been right. Her actions, her flagrant disregard of orders, meant that it was now just a matter of time before they closed in on Trent. It also meant there was no option but for her to see the investigation through and, as she resisted touching the tender skin around her neck where Trent had half choked her and tried not to think about how close she came to being his next victim, Gail finally acknowledged how foolish she’d been to want to stay on the case. 

As she made her way to the front of the station, Gail saw Holly striding down the corridor towards her. Her expression was unreadable but there was something about the rigidity of her gait that made Gail realize she was in trouble. 

‘Uh, hi,’ Gail said as Holly reached her. She knew it was a woefully inadequate greeting given the circumstances. 

Holly said nothing but took her by the hand and led her into an interrogation room, shutting the door behind them. Once inside she grabbed Gail into a fierce hug before just as suddenly letting her go. Then she pushed Gail’s chin up and inspected her neck, wincing as she saw the purple bruises that had already formed on the pale skin. For a moment Gail thought Holly was about to cry, but then she took a step back.

‘You asshole Gail,’ Holly said, her voice tight with anger, ‘What the hell were you thinking?’

Gail blinked a little at Holly’s abrupt turnaround. ‘Well, you can line up behind Elaine and Frankie to take shots at me,’ she said, shrugging, ‘I think they’re selling tickets.’

‘You don’t get to do that, you don’t get to be pissy with any of us because we’ve got every right to be angry with you.’

Gail bit her bottom lip. ‘Holly, let me explain,’ she started.

‘And you don’t get to talk now either. Do you care so little about yourself, about us, that you recklessly go and put yourself in danger. I mean what the fuck, Gail,’ Holly said, her voice rising in exasperation, ‘do you have a death wish or something.’

‘Holly, it’s not like that,’ Gail said quietly.

‘What is it like then, Gail? Tell me, cause I really want to understand. On second thoughts don’t tell me. I’m too angry and frustrated to talk to you about this right now. I need some time. I’m going to go back to Rachel’s place for a while.’

Gail swallowed. ‘Are we okay?’

‘I don’t know Gail. I love you but you promised me you would never do anything reckless or foolhardy and I’m finding it really hard to understand why you went ahead and did this anyway,’ Holly said as she opened the door to leave.

‘I knew what I was doing. It wasn’t as risky as it looks.’

‘If it was so risk-free, why did you disappear on me? Why couldn’t you tell me what you were doing?’ Holly turned and looked directly at Gail. ‘Do you have any idea how worried I was, what I imagined was happening to you, because actually I don’t have to imagine what that monster is capable of.’

Gail bit her bottom lip and looked as if she was about to say something, but Holly ignored her and kept speaking. 

‘I’ve catalogued every mark he’s left on those women, every bit of violence done to them and every sign of their struggle. I’ve described and measured the deep cuts left by the ligatures and the contusions on the inside of their thighs. I’ve listed the genital injuries. I’ve photographed the bruises he left as he wrapped his fingers around their throats pushing their last breath out. So, no I didn’t have to imagine.’

Gail took a step towards Holly.

‘I’m sorry Holly, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think.’

‘That’s an understatement,’ Holly said, moving back and away from Gail, ‘you have no idea how I felt listening to that man threaten you.’

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t plan on that. You know I hate that you heard that.’

Holly shook her head. ‘Whether or not I heard it is not the point. It amazes me that you don’t get that.’ 

As Gail went to speak, Holly interrupted her again.

‘Just give me some space. I just need some time.’

‘Okay,’ Gail said, knowing she had no right to feel as hurt as she did.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘It’s my fault, I should have stopped you leaving the morgue,’ Rodney said as he began to dust Gail’s neck with magnetic powder so he could lift Trent’s prints. 

‘Rodney you are not my keeper,’ Gail sighed, ‘and how many times do I have to tell you I’m a big girl. This is all down to me.’

‘It’s just I’ve never seen Dr Stewart so worried,’ he said, ‘well not since you were missing undercover.’

Oh fuck, Gail thought, why do I keep putting Holly through this? Gail had known from the beginning, from the time Holly had rushed to the station to see if she was safe when Ford was on the loose, that Holly, who was so sensible, so level-headed and reasonable about so many things, became incapable of rational thought when she believed Gail was in danger. She hadn’t recognized it then, but Gail knew now it was because Holly loved and cared for her as no one else ever had. 

God, had she’d pushed it too far this time? Maybe Holly had decided she couldn’t stand it any longer. That thought was like a physical hurt, a laceration that left Gail feeling raw and torn inside and she cursed herself for her stupidity. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘Could he argue that he made an educated guess?’ Frankie said as she, Elaine and Gail went over what Trent had said in the car.

‘I guess he could but none of the media coverage mentioned FindLove. I mean it’s clear someone in the force is leaking information to the Toronto Star but that’s one fact they didn’t report nor has there been any mention that I’m on the case,’ Gail said, ‘If you think back, Trent could only have found out that I was a detective from Aaron and he’d only know about FindLove if he’s the killer.’

‘Could the owner of Findlove have told him?’ Elaine asked.

‘I doubt it. We asked Sandra not to tell anyone and besides she was so worried she’d be put out of business if it got out that a serial killer was stalking the FindLove events. I’m certain Trent knows because he’s the killer.’ Gail blew out a breath.

‘And the fact that he half-strangled you, using the same method to assault you as he used to kill the victims, can’t be a coincidence,’ Frankie pointed out.

‘It’s a warning,’ Elaine said and Gail thought she detected her mother give a slight shudder, ‘a taste of what’s to come.’

‘So why is Trent being so blatant when he went to such pains to remove any trace evidence that could link him to the victims?’ Frankie asked.

‘That’s something the profiler will be able to help with when he arrives tomorrow,’ Elaine said and Frankie wondered whether there was any point bringing in the profiler given it seemed obvious Trent and Aaron were their perps.

‘From what I know of Trent, I think it may be a weird mixture of things. Beneath that charm, he’s extremely arrogant so on the one hand I think he’s proud of his handiwork and the fact that we haven’t caught him yet. He thinks he’s outsmarted us. In the car, it was like he wanted me to know he was the killer, but he was smart enough not to say that directly. He slipped up though when he mentioned FindLove. On the other hand.’

Gail paused for a moment and Frankie and Elaine looked at her expectantly.

‘Like any serial killer, like Perick for example, it’s about control and power,’ Gail continued, ‘Trent needed me to know he is in control but the reality is we’ve, well I’ve unsettled him. If he really was in control he wouldn’t have revealed as much as he did, so the pressure is getting to him.’

‘We should bring him in for questioning,’ Elaine said, ‘and Aaron too. Even if we can’t get a confession it will keep the pressure on them and hopefully they’ll make more mistakes. If Gail’s right about Trent needing control, then I suspect Aaron’s his stooge.’

‘Well, unless Aaron gets off on watching and Trent gets off on that. If Pastor Danny is right, Aaron watched as Trent raped that girl when they were in high school,’ Frankie said.

‘Still, I’d say Trent is the powerful one in this relationship, but we need to interview them both. In fact, ideally we should bring them into the station at the same time so they know we are questioning them both. We could use that to our advantage, play them off against one another,’ Elaine replied.

‘My guess is Trent’s probably gone to ground, he’s smart enough to know we’ll be watching him now, but there is something else. At the end when he told me I’d keep, he also said someone else needed his attention more than me right now.’ Gail wasn’t quite sure why she’d held onto this information until now. Maybe it was too confronting to think Trent might already have his next victim and they had done nothing to prevent it.

Elaine looked at Gail sharply, ‘So that means he is coming after you.’

‘Worse. He takes two women at a time. I’d say I’m number two, number one is the someone else who needed his attention.’

‘He said that exactly?’ Frankie asked, ‘someone needs my attention right now.’

Gail nodded and Frankie exchanged a grim look with Elaine.

‘Yeah,’ Gail said, understanding their bleak expressions, ‘the way he said it sounded like he had already taken the next victim.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

After they finished debriefing, Frankie had insisted that Gail go home with Chloe and Andy.

‘Do you want to kill me,’ Gail had grumbled to which Frankie had made a sour face.

‘Not funny at the moment, Gail.’

‘Miss Optimistic and Miss Girl Scout,’ Gail turned down her lips but then suddenly looked impish as a thought struck her, ‘I know you want me to kill them.’

‘Just go,’ Frankie threw up her hands.

‘Oh, Frankie,‘ Gail turned back, ‘Did my mother really freeze?’

‘Yeah,’ Frankie said, ‘she was worried about you. It’s bad I used that against her.’

‘Worried about me,’ Gail was disbelieving, ‘she has a strange way of showing it.’

‘Well, she is a Peck.’

‘Through and through,’ Gail agreed.

On her way out, Oliver drew Gail into his office and enveloped her in a comforting hug. He knew he was one of the few people Gail allowed to get so physically close.

‘Are you okay, Gail?’ Oliver’s eyes were so full of compassion, his words spoken with such kindness, that for a moment Gail felt like maybe she should just hole up in his office forever and forget everything else that was going on out there, but instead she nodded gamely.

‘You can step away from this, you know that.’

‘I can’t now Ollie. I’ve kind of put myself right back in this investigation.’ 

Oliver nodded. ‘But you know I’m here. Always. And don’t let the Superintendent push you around. And don’t tell her I said that either.’

Gail gave a rueful smile before heading out to find Chloe and Andy. 

Once they got to the house, Chloe and Andy checked the perimeter and made sure all the doors and windows were locked, while Gail went upstairs. Holly had already been around and taken her clothes and toiletries. Gail wondered miserably if this was a sign she was gone for good. However sitting on the bed was a jar of St John’s wort oil and a packet of tablets that gave her cause for a little hope. 

Holly had attached a note that read ‘Gently rub the oil into the bruises three times a day. St John’s wort oil is rich in tannins, which are astringents that help shrink tissue and control capillary bleeding. The arnica tablets will bring down the inflammation and swelling. Take one every four hours to begin with and then reduce the dosage to two or three pills a day as the bruises fade.’

Gail found herself smiling at Holly’s messy scrawl and the fact that even on a post it she couldn’t help the nerd ramble. Surely it meant Holly hadn’t given up on her, but then after she’d hugged Gail in the interrogation room she had been so cut-off, her withdrawal emotional as well as physical. Once again Gail knew she was to blame for Holly’s absence and, just like that first time when she’d pushed Holly away after the incident at the Penny, Gail was keenly aware of how empty that absence made her feel.

She took a shower then, turning the hot water up high so it was almost scalding, trying to wash away the cloying feeling that had stayed with her since the encounter with Trent and the sense that her skin and indeed her whole self was sullied. 

Chloe and Andy seemed happy with her suggestion of pizza for dinner, although Andy stood with her gun drawn but concealed behind her back as Chloe handed over the cash and took the pizza from the delivery guy, who looked barely sixteen and a little freaked out by Andy’s intense stare. Gail rolled her eyes and told Andy to behave like a real cop for once.

Frankie and Dov returned quite late.

‘You were right Gail, Trent’s gone to ground. Told the gym manager he needed to visit his sick mother. There’s no sign of Aaron either,’ Frankie said.

‘But the good news is I’ve connected Aaron to the white cargo van.’ Dov could barely contain his glee.

‘How?’ Gail prompted.

‘I decided to check if any of Aaron or Trent’s relatives, well Trent doesn’t have relatives, but friends or colleagues might own a white van that Aaron and Trent could access. Turns out Pastor Danny sold an old white van that belonged to the church to Aaron about two years ago. Seems Aaron was too lazy to change the vehicle registration so it still shows up as belonging to the church.’

‘Your mother is getting arrest warrants for Trent and Aaron. She believes we’ve got enough to charge them both.’

‘Do we?’

Frankie paused for a moment before replying to Gail. ‘I’m not sure, but at least it gets them off the street for a while and stops anymore women being taken.’

‘But I think he’s got someone already,’ Gail couldn’t conceal her annoyance, ‘we should be working on that.’

‘Strickland and Garcia, they’re two of the detectives the Superintendent pulled onto the team, spent the last few hours cross checking reports of missing women with the FindLove lists and came up with nothing.’

‘But Dov if she was taken today maybe no one’s realized she’s missing yet.’

Dov nodded in agreement. ‘You’re right, Gail. We’ll check again tomorrow.’

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Gail slept fitfully. She was woken just as it was light by a nightmare where Trent morphed into Perick and back again and both of them kept repeating ‘we’ve got one, now we’re coming for you.’ As Trent, then Perick, then Trent again circled their hands around her neck Gail came to with a start. She reached out blindly for Holly and of course found the bed empty, her brain taking a beat to catch up. 

The nightmare had unnerved her and without Holly to reassure her, Gail thought a swim might calm her down. She required a bodyguard though. A little evilly, given the earliness of the hour, she decided to wake Dov. Padding downstairs to the first floor, she went into Chloe’s room and found Dov stretched out on the bed, one foot sticking out of the covers. Looking down Gail decided Dov really did have unattractive feet and it was only right that she should wake him by twisting his big toe.

Dov let out a yelp that of course woke Chloe. 

‘What the hell, Gail,’ he managed to sputter as Chloe looked confused.

‘I’m going swimming. I need security. Meet me downstairs in five,’ she said, ‘oh and I guess bring your gun.’

As she went up and down the pool Gail found she was unable to shake the nightmare. Instead of calmly counting strokes, her mind alternated between what Trent/Perick had said in the dream about already having one victim and her stupidity at letting this investigation jeopardize her relationship with Holly. She couldn’t chase away the feeling of foreboding that accompanied each of these thoughts. 

Why she was paying such heed to the nightmare. It wasn’t like she believed in premonitions. Then there was the question of why, without being conscious of it, she had sabotaged things with Holly. She had thought that was something she’d dealt with. She’d been over it enough times with her therapist. Resolving to make an appointment with Leslie, Gail finally gave up on the swim.

Dov handed her a towel as she got out of the pool, saying ‘Looking fit Gail.’

‘You shouldn’t be looking Epstein.’

Dov colored slightly. ‘I’m not, I mean I was but I’m just, you know, admiring your physical fitness, I’m not actually checking out your body. Not that you’re not hot because anyone, you know man or woman, with eyes in their head can see you are, you know hot. Oh man, that came out wrong.’

Gail made a face. ‘Hardly surprising, cause what have we established?’ She gave Dov a fake smile, thinking it was too easy to get him flustered, and without waiting for a reply continued, ‘You came out wrong.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

It was about an hour later that Gail arrived at the station flanked by Frankie, Dov and Chloe. If they didn’t catch Trent and Aaron soon she might just go mad having to be accompanied everywhere by this motley crew. 

As Gail got to her desk, Officer Robinson approached. ‘There’s a witness wanting to speak to you. She worked with Claire Beecher. Her name’s Ruby Johnston. You left your card awith her supervisor. Shall I put her in an interview room?’

Gail nodded. ‘Do you want to sit in on this with me, Chloe.’

Ruby Johnston was petite with black hair cropped short and close to her head and a set of dimples that suggested she’d normally be laughing or smiling. Now her expression was troubled. Despite that, she had the relaxed glow of someone who had just retuned from a week’s holiday, which as it turned out was exactly where she’d been.

‘I was on a cruise,’ she explained to Gail and Chloe, ‘I didn’t know Claire had been killed until I got back to work this morning.’

‘No one from work contacted you?’ Gail asked.

‘It’s not that kind of workplace. Everyone keeps to themselves. I’m not even sure any of my colleagues have my number but it was different with Claire. She’d only been working there for about six weeks but we got on really well. I felt like she could be a friend, you know. We’d gone out for drinks a few times. We were both single. She told me she’d broken up with a boyfriend a few months ago. She sort of hinted he was abusive.’

Gail nodded. Matt and Dov had spoken to Claire’s ex-boyfriend but there was nothing to link him to the murders, apart from being self-centered which hadn’t been declared a crime yet.

‘Did she mention whether she had met anyone else?’ Gail asked gently.

‘Yeah, she was really excited. She’d been to some singles event. She kept trying to get me to go but I hate those meat markets. Anyway she met a guy there, a gym instructor. I think his name was Brent or something. I can’t remember exactly. She was going to meet him after work the day after I went on holidays.’

Gail exchanged a look with Chloe. Yep, they were closing in on Trent.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Why did you do it,’ Leslie asked, her fingers tips arranged in a steeple, which Gail thought made her look like the archetypal therapist. 

Fortunately Leslie had a cancellation at noon so Gail used her lunch hour for the appointment not wanting her mother to know where she was. She’d dragged Chris along figuring he of all people wouldn’t judge her for seeing a therapist and he was now perched awkwardly in the waiting room, checking out anyone who came through the door. 

‘No one gets it. My mother clearly thinks I was insane to meet with the suspect and Holly asked if I had a death wish. I don’t even know if I get it myself, but I feel like I owe it to those women to catch this guy and stop it happening to anyone else. I mean I was lucky I was rescued from Perick.’

‘Do you think you owe a debt?’

‘Yes, for Jerry. His death had to mean something didn’t it?’ Gail reply was almost inaudible. As she spoke she looked at Leslie almost beseechingly.

‘So you think by stopping this killer, by preventing any more women from being taken, you give Jerry’s death meaning?’

‘Yes.’

‘You don’t think that saving you gave his death meaning?’

Gail looked at Leslie like she was crazy. ‘He was cool, a good guy, the best. He had so much going for him, so much to offer. If he was alive now he and Tracy would be married and have made a family with Leo and maybe they would have a bunch of other kids as well. And I took all that away.’

‘Perick took that away,’ Leslie said firmly, ‘If Jerry hadn’t saved you, couldn’t Holly say she was robbed of the life she wants to make with you and you with her.’

‘Leslie I’m not a good person. Not like Jerry. I can’t even hold onto the good things in my life. I think I’ve fucked it up with Holly.’

‘From what you’ve told me of Holly, I’d have to say I’d be very surprised if you have messed things up irrevocably. It’s not unreasonable for her to ask for some space. She was confronted in a very real way with the possibility of losing you’

‘And I didn’t care enough about her not to put myself at risk or at least that’s how she sees it,’ Gail interrupted.

‘That’s quite possible.’

‘I don’t deserve her,’ Gail said, twisting her mouth.

‘Gail, can you see you are falling back into old patterns of behavior?’

‘Yeah, yeah. Self-pity, self-deprecation, self-sabotage. My unholy trinity,’ Gail replied a little caustically, but only because she realized Leslie was right. 

The therapist had pushed Gail to work hard on self-worth. Sure, Gail could boast about being awesome and strut about like the Queen of everything, curling her lip at anything that displeased her in the slightest, but a good part of it was bluff and bluster to disguise that niggling sense that she would never matter as much as anyone else. And now, now the longer the investigation continued the more the small accord she reached with that niggle seemed to be unraveling. 

‘Putting that aside for the moment, Gail I want to suggest that survivor’s guilt is what is driving you to do what ever it takes to catch this killer.’

‘Survivor’s guilt?’

‘Yes. You said it yourself. You feel like you owe these women. Do you think it’s time you accept that it was Perick’s fault and not yours that Jerry died, just as the killer is to blame if anymore women die,’ Leslie paused, ‘I think Gail you need to forgive yourself. It may be essential if you want to move forward with Holly.’

Gail bit her lip.

‘And isn’t the life you lead, which despite what you say and despite the way you wrap things up in snark, is good and true, isn’t that atonement for Jerry’s death. 

‘That’s what Holly says.’

‘She sounds like a smart woman,’ Leslie smiled.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Gail was trying to get the bartender’s attention. She needed food not alcohol. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, when her stomach was so churned by the events of the previous day and the nightmare that woke her she’d only managed a piece of toast. She’d skipped lunch for the appointment with Leslie and then spent the afternoon chasing down fruitless leads connected to Trent and Aaron’s whereabouts. 

At 6pm Frankie had clapped her on the back and said ‘We’re going to shoot things, Peck’ and they’d spent a satisfying hour at the gun range. Why she’d then agreed to come to this bar with Frankie she didn’t know. 

‘It’s the newest gay bar in Toronto. It only opened last week. Its our duty to give it our patronage,’ Frankie had said blithely and Gail wondered if the bar and the shooting range were an attempt to cheer her up.

Gail was lightheaded from lack of sleep and food, and even before Frankie had supplied her with two shots of tequila, she’d felt almost as if she was drunk from fatigue. Before long Frankie was distracted by a redheaded woman, who was none too subtle in her appraisal of the detective. Gail could see them out of the corner of her eye, a little to the side of the bar. 

If she hung around she was going to cramp Frankie’s style. Maybe she should call Chris to come and give her a ride home. She smiled at that. He’d be all hulky and awkward walking into a gay bar to fetch her.

Finally the bartender came over to Gail but instead of taking her order, she slid a shot in front of her. Without thinking, Gail tipped it back and drank it down.

‘Compliments of the brunette over there,’ the bartender said with a nod down the bar and, before Gail could ask for food, she disappeared to serve another customer.

‘Wait, what,’ Gail said confused and then figured Frankie had bought her another shot. Well, free drinks, who was she to complain. She still wanted some food though.

She was contemplating whether she should go in search of Frankie and drag her out of here and to a place that actually wanted to serve her food or just call Chris, when a woman slid onto the barstool next to her. Gail didn’t take much notice until the woman leant over and spoke directly into her ear so Gail could hear above the noise of the bar.

‘I thought you said you were straight.’

Gail turned and with a start realized it was Stacey, the woman who had tried to hit on her at the FindLove event.

‘I guessed you’d be the tequila kind of girl,’ Stacey purred, placing her fingers on Gail’s forearm.

Oh, thought Gail looking down at Stacey’s fingers as if watching something that was happening to someone else, that’s where the last shot had come from. The mix of alcohol and tiredness was making her feel slow and uncoordinated and she shook her head to clear it.

‘I have a girlfriend,’ she told Stacey, conscious of the effort she needed to annunciate every word so she didn’t slur.

‘I don’t see any girlfriend,’ Stacey leaned in closer and moved her hand to the top of Gail’s thigh.

Where the fuck is Frankie, Gail thought, isn’t she meant to be protecting me? Quickly scanning the room she stopped when she saw a pair of chocolate brown eyes she knew so well staring back at her.

‘She’s just over there,’ Gail pushed Stacey’s hand off her leg and stood up a little unsteadily.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Holly really didn’t know why she’d agreed to come to this bar with Lisa. The surgeon had a date of sorts with Bridget, a journalist who’d written a feature article on cosmetic surgery in which she’d quoted Lisa extensively. The interview with Lisa had bordered on flirty and at the end of it the plastic surgeon had asked for Bridget’s number. 

When the article hit the newsstands the day before, Lisa had rung Bridget to congratulate her and arrange a date. Trouble was Bridget’s cousin was in town and Bridget didn’t want to leave her home alone so Lisa felt like she needed a decoy. When Holly turned up at Rachel’s with her suitcase last night, Lisa knew she had found just the right person.

‘I really don’t feel like going out,’ Holly said.

‘It’ll stop you moping around here,’ Lisa countered, ‘anyway since you’ve been back you’re always with Gail. You don’t have any time for Rachel and me. We’re beginning to feel neglected.’

Holly laughed. ‘I get the feeling it’s not my company you want to enjoy tonight, Lisa.’

‘Well you owe me for all the times I keep walking in on you and Gail. Anyway Bridget’s cousin is some sort of scientist so I’m sure you’ll have plenty to talk about.’

Eventually Holly had agreed. She did feel a little guilty about how little she’d seen her best friends since returning to Toronto and, Lisa was right, it might stop her thinking about Gail.

As they made their way through the crowded bar, Holly started to think she’d made a mistake. She should be with Gail, not here. The look of hurt that crossed Gail’s face when Holly left the interrogation room yesterday afternoon had stayed with her ever since. She shouldn’t have walked out on Gail. It would just feed all her insecurities and beside hadn’t she told Gail repeatedly that they should talk their issues through, not run away. Then what did she do? She shut Gail out.

As they reached the booth were Bridget was seated, Holly noticed she was with Natasha, the very striking woman she’d interviewed for the internship yesterday. In fact Dr Carral was chasing up her referees with the intention if they panned out of offering Natasha one of the positions. Some sort of scientist Lisa had said. Natasha must be Bridget’s cousin. This could awkward, Holly thought.

‘Oh you know each other,’ Lisa said surprised when Natasha greeted Holly as Dr Stewart.

‘Ah, Natasha was one of the applicants for the intern positions at the Morgue.’

‘Oh, well I suppose you can’t tell her whether she was successful,‘ Lisa laughed brightly and then turning to Natasha, gave her a wink and said, ‘Just ply Holly with alcohol. She’ll tell you anything then.’

Holly sighed. She wondered how long she needed to wait before she could excuse herself so she could go and see Gail.

While Lisa and Natasha went to the bar to get drinks, Holly tried to make small talk with Bridget about her article. Small talk wasn’t really her forte and to be honest, though she’d never admit it to Lisa, she had no real interest in cosmetic surgery. She was relieved when Lisa and Natasha returned quite quickly with the drinks. The bar had thinned out, no doubt as people went in search of dinner. As Lisa sat down she said ‘Hey, Holly isn’t that Gail over at the bar?’

Holly looked up to see the familiar blonde head. Gail had her back to them, and a woman seated next to her was leaning in close. God, thought Holly, did she just put her hand on Gail’s leg. Before Holly could react or even think of something to say, Gail began looking wildly around the room, stopping when she saw Holly and looking directly at her. Without breaking her gaze, Gail got up abruptly, unceremoniously pushing the woman’s hand off her, and with very deliberate care made her way towards Holly. Is she drunk, Holly wondered and then realized Natasha was speaking.

‘Who’s Gail?’ 

‘She’s a detective with 15,’ Lisa supplied.

‘Wow, are all Toronto detectives so hot?’ Natasha gushed and Holly briefly speculated if it was too late to ask Dr Carral to reconsider appointing Natasha, but just as quickly dismissed the idea as unethical.

As Gail approached, Holly saw that she'd buttoned up her shirt to the collar to hide the bruises on her neck. Reaching the booth, Gail regarded the four women before her and then turned to Holly solemnly.

‘There’s a woman back there who won’t leave me alone because she doesn’t believe I have a girlfriend. You’re still my girlfriend right, Holly.’

‘Oh drama, drama,’ Lisa said snidely, ‘Are you drunk Peck?’

Gail turned to look at her with barely concealed contempt.

‘Gail,’ Holly said beginning to stand, although she was hemmed in on one side by Natasha and on the other by Bridget and Lisa ‘what are you doing here?’

‘It’s okay, it’s okay. I get it,’ Gail held up her hands and started to back away from the table, ‘I didn’t figure you’d move on so fast.’ Gail nodded in Natasha’s direction. 

Maybe she shouldn’t have been surprised. After all when they broke up that first time Holly found that someone else fairly quickly, although she had told Gail it was a completely ill conceived and futile attempt to get over Gail.

‘Gail, wait,’ Holly said.

‘No, I need food. I haven’t eaten all day.’ With that Gail spun on her heel, suddenly no longer clumsy.

‘Well at least she didn’t threaten to tazer herself in the eye this time,’ Lisa observed and now Holly gave her a withering look. Lisa however ignored it and said. ‘Well, go after her Holly.’

‘I would if someone would let me out of this booth.’ Holly knew she sounded churlish.

Natasha quickly stood to let Holly pass. As Holly cleared the booth, she turned back to Natasha and said, ‘For the record, Gail is my girlfriend.’ She felt a little gratified that Natasha had the grace to blush.

Trouble was Gail was nowhere to be seen. Holly did however find Frankie.

‘Is Gail with you?’ The note of panic in Frankie’s voice was impossible to miss.

‘She was a minute ago, but then she suddenly disappeared. She said she needed food.’

‘I’ll look around the bar and in the restrooms, can you check outside? Maybe she decided to leave,’ Frankie said.

Holly nodded. Once outside she immediately saw Gail just up ahead. The sidewalk was swarming with people out on a Friday night and Gail was moving at a surprisingly fast pace so Holly kept losing sight of her. The blonde head had just bobbed back into view when Holly saw a tall, well built man with jet black hair come up behind Gail and lean down to say something, his hands moving to grasp her elbows.

‘Gail,’ Holly yelled, ‘Gail.’


	20. Twenty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters etc…
> 
> Author’s note: Was it stupid of Gail and Frankie to go and have a drink in a bar and was it stupid of me as an author to send them there? Hopefully this chapter will explain some of that but I guess you the readers will be the judge!
> 
> Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter – there is a lot happening in my life right now and I’m struggling to find time to write. However, writing is a welcome escape from some of the more difficult things going on. This is one of the longest chapters I’ve written so that might make up for the delay.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this. Let me know. As always thank you, thank you for reading and reviewing and the kudos. It is so great to hear from you.

Holly started to run. All she could think about was reaching Gail and she didn’t care who she pushed out of the way to get there. 

They were in Queer West Village and the sidewalks were packed with people drawn by its funky bars and restaurants, making it difficult for Holly to keep Gail in view or cover the short distance to her. As she ran she yelled out Gail’s name and ‘take your fucking hands off her’. 

Most people moved out of her way and a few shrank back. When Holly thought about it later she realized she probably looked and sounded like a madwoman so it wasn’t surprising that the crowd parted. 

The yelling momentarily distracted Trent; when Gail came out of the bar he’d waited a bit to see if she was alone before following her. Holly’s appearance took him by surprise and he loosened his grip on Gail, who took the opportunity to stomp down hard on right his foot. He grunted in pain and let go of her elbows and she spun around, ready to confront him. 

The adrenaline had kicked in and Gail felt completely alert; her earlier fatigue disappearing the moment Trent grabbed hold of her. It was like time stood still and the street around her and all the people and the cars and the colorful signs advertising hipster bars fell away and all she could see was Trent standing before her. 

Afterwards, Holly would explain that these sensory distortions were part of the fight or flight response. That the loss of peripheral vision would have been accompanied by a widening of the pupils allowing Gail to focus solely on the threat before her to the exclusion of all else. 

Trent, however, had other ideas. Holly had clearly spooked him and he dove into the crowd, agilely weaving through the bodies, and Gail almost immediately lost sight of him. She knew better than to pursue him. She’d learnt her lesson about acting alone, and frankly, now that he had made his intentions clear, that he was coming for her, Gail was too afraid to go after him without back up.

Gail was still trying to figure out where Trent had disappeared, when she nearly had the wind knocked out of her as Holly literally launched herself at her, throwing both arms around Gail in a tight embrace.

‘Thank god you’re alright, Gail,’ she said breathlessly, ‘are you alright? Did he hurt you?’

Gail shook her head.

‘You’re not alright,’ Holly’s eyes went wide.

‘Well that’s debatable most of the time but I meant he didn’t hurt me, but Holly if you don’t let go soon I might just need some medical attention.’

‘Oh, oh,’ Holly relaxed her hold and stepped back a little so Gail was at arm’s length. She peered at Gail intently before doing a quick inventory of her body to reassure herself that Gail was telling the truth and she was indeed unharmed.

‘Can’t help checking me out, Stewart,’ Gail sassed but in that instant it seemed as if all the energy was literally draining out of her and her body sagged. Holly must have spotted it straightaway because she grabbed Gail under the arms to hold her up and pulled her close.

‘This can happen after an adrenaline surge,’ she murmured soothingly, ‘all that blood sugar that was pumped into your muscles is dropping at a rapid rate. Plus you haven’t eaten.’

If Gail hadn’t felt so weak she would have told Holly to stop with the science lesson and just get them the hell out of here, but she was saved by the arrival of Frankie.

‘Fuck Peck, oh thank fuck you’re okay,’ Frankie said breathlessly,’ come on we need to get away from here.’

As Frankie spoke she became aware that two young guys were watching them curiously. They looked to be barely twenty and were holding hands. If that wasn’t enough to indicate they weren’t a threat, their sweetly earnest expressions were. Still Frankie wasn’t taking any chances and Gail could see her put one hand inside her coat where she was wearing a gun in a shoulder holster.

‘Did that man attack you? Are you okay? Do we need to call an ambulance or the police?’ one of the guys asked, stepping forward slightly, while his companion eyed Frankie a little warily.

Gail shook her head wearily and pointing at Holly said ‘Doctor’, before pointing at Frankie and then herself, ‘Police.’ 

Frankie pulled out her badge. The two guys looked a little surprised.

‘Oh, okay but if you need a witness, I got a good look at him. Black hair. Built. Handsome.’ the second guy offered, ‘Is he someone you’re after?’

‘Mm possibly,’ Frankie hedged. ‘Listen we need to leave so here take my card,’ she plucked a card out of a pocket. ‘Can you call me on that number and leave a message. I’ll get back to you later.’

Frankie then shepherded Gail and Holly back to where her car was parked, one hand underneath her jacket and on her gun, her eyes darting about for any sign of Trent or indeed Aaron. Holly had supported Gail the short distance to the car and once they reached it propelled her into the backseat. By then Gail had started to tremble.

‘Holly, I shouldn’t be on this investigation, I shouldn’t be. It’s messing with my head,’ Gail said in a small voice and Holly’s heart ached at how vulnerable Gail sounded. 

She should never have left Gail alone last night, no matter how angry she was with her. Of course this investigation was messing with Gail. Ever since they’d found Trent’s first victims she’d been plagued by nightmares. Holly was well aware of that. She’d been woken enough times by Gail trashing about in the bed or calling out and then coming to in a cold sweat, the terror of the nightmare obvious in her hollowed eyes. Holly would hold her then, neither of them speaking except to acknowledge the fact of the nightmare, and before long Gail would calm. 

But yesterday, yesterday Holly hadn’t comforted Gail. She had pushed her away when she should have been there for her. Holly hadn’t trusted herself to tell Gail how, as she listened on the other end of the phone, she was overcome by the certainty that Gail was about to die. It was as if her heart had literally stopped and she held her breath, wondering how long she could remain listening in and yet unable to disconnect, to abandon Gail even as she heard her gasp for air as Trent began to choke her. 

It took a long time for her to admit it, but she’d spent those two years in San Francisco grieving the loss of Gail. Sure she’d had some short-lived flings but no one held her attention like Gail. The sex was never as good, the conversations never as engaging and there was never the ease she had experienced with Gail before Lisa and the Penny after which it all went pear-shaped. 

Everything was just flatter in San Francisco. Even when she helped crack a case or there was a breakthrough in the lab and she should have been celebrating as her meteoric career rise continued, even those days had a slightly dull patina, making those achievements somehow less meaningful. No one had ever made Holly feel as much or as loved as Gail – she was aware it was clichéd but it was as if life was bigger, sharper somehow, more full of wonder and more keenly felt when she was with Gail.

So Holly knew that to lose Gail again would be to lose herself and there would be no coming back from that. This then was the stuff of her nightmares, not the fears that woke you in the night but the ones that lived with you everyday. It was this that made her lash out at Gail in the interrogation room. But what where her fears compared to Gail’s as she felt Trent’s fingers around her neck, not knowing if she were about to die. 

Now as she looked at Gail’s bleak face and felt her shiver against her, Holly was filled with remorse for turning her back on her, for letting her down just as every other person who was supposed to love her had.

‘Sshh, it’s okay Gail,’ Holly said, holding Gail against her and rubbing her back to try and warm her up, ‘Frankie have you got any food in here?’

Frankie rummaged around in the glove box and found one of the granola bars that Gail had swiped from Chloe and left behind a few days ago.

‘Perfect,’ Holly said, unwrapping the bar and holding it out to Gail.

As she bit down on it, Gail became aware of how dry her throat was and how difficult this made it to swallow.

‘Water,’ she croaked after a moment.

Frankie tossed Holly a bottle from the front and then put the car into gear and moved out into the traffic.

‘Where are we going?’ Holly asked.

‘15. I know Trent probably followed us from there but it’s still the safest place for Gail right now until we can figure out what to do.’

‘We have to tell my mother,’ Gail said, sounding resigned, her voice just audible.

Frankie nodded. That was something she was not looking forward to. She and Gail had fucked up big time. She didn’t know what she was thinking taking Gail to a bar. She had decided a drink or two might cheer up the blonde, who understandably was subdued after the encounter with Trent the day before, and then there was the fact that Holly didn’t show up at the house last night. When Frankie asked where she was, Gail just shrugged and said ‘busy, I guess’ and Frankie knew better than to pursue it. 

Frankie cursed herself for thinking they’d be safe in a gay bar and cursed herself for getting distracted by that redhead, even if she was rather gorgeous, and cursed herself for not imagining for a moment that Gail would get up and walk out of the place on her own. Fuck, if it hadn’t been for Holly, Gail would be god knows where with Trent. Oh, she was in for a shellacking from the Superintendent, especially as only twenty-four hours ago she’d shown up the woman. Frankie imagined Elaine would be merciless in exacting retribution.

‘Maybe we should just go into hiding first, send the Superintendent a text when we get there’ she quipped and Gail gave a weak laugh.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Oliver was still at the station when they arrived. From the look on their faces, he immediately guessed something was amiss, so he steered the three women into his office. Gail still felt preternaturally cold so Oliver rustled up a blanket from inside a cupboard and handed it to Holly who wrapped it firmly around Gail. She then guided Gail to the couch, sitting down next to her, with one arm protectively around her back. 

Oliver pushed a cup of heavily sweetened tea into Gail’s hands, saying ‘Drink this. It won’t make everything be well but it will help’. 

He then summonsed a rookie to go get four shawarma, repeating twice ‘no tomatoes, you got that, otherwise hell hath no fury than the women you’ll have to answer to.’ 

The rookie backed out the door looking nervous. Even in her weakened state, Gail was grateful Oliver remembered the tomatoes and had clearly decided it was easier to ask for all four without rather than risk the rookie screwing up the order.

‘They don’t make rookies like they used to in your day Peck,’ Oliver shook his head and sighed, ‘oh and don’t tell Celery about the shawarma. Not unless you plan on getting a new sergeant to wrangle you band of miscreants.’ 

Oliver paused, noting that Frankie and Holly hadn’t reacted to his banter, inconsequential as it was, although he detected a small quirk at the corners of Gail’s mouth. When Oliver continued his tone lost some of its geniality and became more serious. 

‘Much as I enjoy your esteemed company, I’m afraid you can’t stay holed up in this office forever and detectives, much as I’m guessing you want to avoid it, we need to inform the Superintendent. I can make the call.’

‘No, I’ll do it,’ Frankie said, ‘It’s me who fucked up.’

‘At last something we can agree on,’ Holly said.

Frankie glanced at her, surprised by the bitterness in her voice. Holly wasn’t usually this direct. Oliver shifted a bit uneasily, deliberating what to do next. Gail didn’t need these two at war with one another. She’d have enough to deal with facing Superintendent Peck, let alone coming to terms with Trent’s obsession with her and how she close she came to being his next victim. 

‘Okay, I am going to place that call to Superintendent Peck,’ Oliver decided, ‘and I think you three better agree on a version of events before she arrives.’ With that he left the room.

‘Wait, did Oliver just suggest we collude?’ Holly asked.

‘It’s not considered collusion when it comes to the Superintendent. It’s justifiable self-defense,’ Gail said drily, feeling somewhat revived now she had drunk the tea and had a little to eat. The shaking had stopped so she pushed the blanket off and turned to face Holly.

‘It was my fault, Holly,’ she said quietly.

‘No, Frankie promised me she’d keep you safe. That she’d make sure nothing would happen to you so what the hell were you doing Frankie.’ Holly looked accusingly at Frankie. 

‘No one can make that kind of promise,’ Gail said before Frankie could answer, ‘there are no guarantees, you know that Holly.’

‘I was keeping an eye on Gail. I mean she was literally a foot away from me and then I saw her go over to talk to you and I figured she’d stay with you. The next thing I knew she’d disappeared,’ Frankie said, realizing as she spoke how feeble her explanation sounded.

‘But what were you doing taking Gail into a bar with not one but two killers after her?’

‘It was stupid, I know,’ Frankie faltered, ‘but I didn’t think Trent would walk into a crowded bar and abduct Gail. He obviously waits to get these women alone and so I thought it would be okay.’

‘Holly, there were two of us so it was unlikely Trent would go after me and I guess we believed we could handle it if he did. It’s what we’re trained to do.’ Gail said in Frankie’s defense. ‘In hindsight it was stupid but I was the one who walked out of there alone.’

‘So why did you walk out?’ Frankie asked.

‘I was hungry. They wouldn’t feed me,’ Gail deflected.

‘It was my fault,’ Holly spoke up, ‘I have a feeling Gail thought we’d broken up.’

Frankie looked at both women sharply.

‘Will you two get your shit together, for the sake of this investigation if nothing else. Gail it is plain for everyone to see, but apparently you, that Holly, who otherwise appears to be a rational and sane woman, is completely smitten with you and in fact only has eyes for you.’

‘And that girl back there, Natasha,’ Holly said, looking directly at Gail, ‘She didn’t mean anything. I barely even know her. Lisa dragged me out for a drink. She was tying to hook up with Bridget, but Natasha, who is Bridget’s cousin, was staying with Bridget and she didn’t want to leave her at home and Lisa kind of twisted my arm to go because of course she didn’t want the cousin cramping her style. And then it was really awkward because I’d interviewed Natasha for a job yesterday. But even before that, in fact as soon as I got to the bar, I regretted going and all I wanted to do was go over to your place and see you, Gail,’ Holly ended with a lopsided smile.

‘Why didn't you say so in the bar?’ Gail asked, realizing what a complete idiot she had been to doubt Holly for even one second.

Frankie frowned. Really Gail, she thought, you wanted Holly to say all of that in front of Lisa and two strangers, one of whom Holly potentially had to supervise at work. She could understand why Holly might have been circumspect.

'You didn't really give me a chance,’ Holly pointed out to Gail, ‘and anyway I was trying to avoid talking about us in front of Lisa. If Lisa decides there is even the slightest crack in our relationship it confirms her belief that we are doomed and then she starts badgering me about setting me up on dates with people she deems more suitable. The thing is I just wanted to get out of that bar, away from Lisa and the other two and get you home but then you were gone, even though I practically walked over Natasha to get out of that booth. And I may have made it very clear to Natasha as I left that you were my girlfriend.’

‘Wait,’ Frankie said, thinking geez Holly can talk, ‘was Natasha the gorgeous one with black hair and green eyes. Wearing a silk green shirt that very nearly matched her eyes. She was sitting across from Lisa and the other brunette.’ 

So, Holly had to admit, Frankie was paying more attention than she had given her credit for. Although her focus was apparently diverted elsewhere, Frankie had clearly scoped out who was sitting in the booth as Gail made her way over there, even if it was typical she’d taken a good deal more notice of one of most attractive women in the bar. 

‘She’s going to be Holly’s intern,’ Gail said, her mouth pursed petulantly.

‘Wait, how did you even know that?’ Holly asked but didn’t wait for Gail’s reply, ‘The interview process isn’t complete yet,’ she added primly.

‘But she’s going to be your intern,’ Gail insisted.

‘Lucky you Holly,’ Frankie interjected, pretending she couldn’t see the scowl Gail was directing at her, ‘can you introduce me to her?’

‘Gladly,’ Holly said. 

Gail rolled her eyes and Holly had to laugh.

‘Wow, really, we’re in the middle of a major murder investigation, Frankie and I just acted like complete rookies and my mother is on her way to kick our asses into next year but not before she tears strips off us until we literally bleed, in fact we probably will bleed, and you two are talking about setting Frankie up. Just, wow,’ Gail said. 

Secretly though she was pleased the tension between Holly and Frankie had been diffused. If she was going to get through this, she needed both women united and in her corner.

‘When you put it that way it does sound wrong,’ Holly conceded.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘I expected better of you Detective Peck, and well Detective Anderson you are the senior officer,’ Elaine paused, the fact of Frankie’s culpability though unspoken left hanging heavily between them. ‘I should put you both back in uniform but even that would end in disaster because you two appear to have forgotten even your basic training,’ Elaine said, her voice unnervingly quiet. 

Frankie was waiting for the explosion but so far Elaine had kept her anger in check and Gail knew from a lifetime of experience that this quiet control was more deadly than any outburst. 

When Elaine had arrived she’d said curtly ‘this better be good. I left the annual dinner of the Police Women’s Association for this,’ and Gail couldn’t help screwing up her face and mouthing to Frankie ‘top level ass kissing’. Frankie had to stifle a smile. It was amusing, but Frankie had to admit sort of depressing too, that the Superintendent seemed to bring out Gail’s juvenile side. Now Elaine regarded both of them with an icy glare.

‘Do you think that because you are police officers that makes you invulnerable to a serial killer.’

‘Clearly mother based on past experience I know I’m not,’ Gail said, certain Elaine was making a reference to Perick and hating her for it.

‘And I would have thought, having come so close to being Ross Perick’s next victim, through your own carelessness I might add, that you would have learnt from your mistakes and not run headlong into the arms of another serial killer.’

‘Okay mother, I was a fuck-up as a cadet, and as a rookie and as a constable and I’m a fuck-up as a detective and,’ Gail stopped as Holly gently placed a hand on her arm.

‘And if it weren’t for Gail you wouldn’t have flushed out Trent,‘ Holly said, ‘you’re closing in on him so it would make sense for him to go to ground, disappear, but instead he’s still in Toronto. It’s clear he hasn’t left because he thinks he’s still got a chance of snatching Gail. He obviously has no idea Gail is being watched over otherwise he wouldn’t have approached her tonight. It means you’ve got a better chance of catching him.’

Elaine turned to regard Holly

‘And if it weren’t for you, Dr Stewart, Trent would have Gail right now and this conversation would be taking a very different turn.’

‘You don’t think I’m well aware of that or hate the idea of Gail being used as bait for this guy, but it’s done now so we need to move on and work out how to use this information about Trent to our advantage.’

Gail watched as Elaine paused and then considered Holly as if taking stock of her for the first time. She gave a small nod in agreement. Gail wasn’t sure if her mother was impressed by the fact that Holly was standing up to her or by her shrewd assessment of the situation but Elaine’s expression was one of approbation. Weird, Gail mused, I’ve finally found a partner my mother approves of. Wow, this is novel.

‘If only Detectives Anderson and Peck had half of your tactical acumen,’ Elaine told Holly, ‘we may not be in this mess.’

Okay, thought Gail, no need to get too excited about her mother’s new found esteem for Holly. It seemed Elaine was using it to drive a wedge between she and Holly. Gail wondered why she had expected anything less.

Holly visibly gritted her teeth. 

‘I doubt you’d even know Trent and Aaron were the killers if it weren’t for Gail and Frankie,’ she said slowly, the pace of her delivery allowing her time to calm her emotions as she fought the urge to slap this woman. 

Holly wasn’t a violent person, in fact she abhorred physical violence of any kind, but Elaine was bringing out a belligerence in her. Holly suspected she was not alone in reacting this way to the Superintendent. 

Elaine made a skeptical noise. Holly had always suspected that Gail’s stories of her mother’s bullying were a little exaggerated. Certainly when Steve was first in the hospital Elaine had been charming, going out of her way to accommodate Holly and make it possible for her to drag Gail home for some much needed rest. Now though, Holly realized Gail’s bitter comments hadn’t come close to describing just how tyrannical, how cold and unforgiving this woman could be.

‘Gail,’ Holly said, not disguising the antipathy she felt towards Elaine at this moment, ‘tell the Superintendent what Trent said to you when he grabbed you.’

‘He said it was time for me to join the party, and then he said the three of us can’t start without you.’

Elaine’s eyes narrowed and Gail could tell she had immediately worked out the implications of Trent’s words.

‘Yep,’ Gail said, ‘it sounds like Trent and Aaron already have their next victim.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Chloe sighed as she got out of the car. It had been a long shift. Superintendent Peck had had them chasing down Trent and Aaron all day but it had been a futile search. The two men appeared to have gone to ground. 

She and Andy had spoken to colleagues and neighbors and even the barista in the coffee shop that operated out of the ground floor of Trent’s building, but no one had any idea about the whereabouts of the two men or could recall seeing them that day or the previous one. Neither Trent nor Aaron seemed to have any close friends. Neighbors generally described them as loners who kept to themselves. 

A young woman, who lived across the hall from Trent said, ‘Oh you mean that hot guy. I tried to talk to him but he gave me the brush off. I mean at first he came across as all charm, but then I realized how arrogant he was.’ Not Trent’s type, Chloe thought at she looked at the brunette. 

Pastor Danny couldn’t think of anywhere Aaron would be likely to hide away a victim. 

‘No old haunts, like an old abandoned house, that the two of you played in as children?’ Andy asked.

Danny shook his head. 

‘We weren’t that close even when we were kids.’

As Chloe made her way up the brick path to the front porch, she saw the house was in darkness and wondered where Frankie and Gail were. Gail had sent a text a few hours earlier saying they were going to the range. Surely they couldn't still be there. 

She knew Gail was frustrated at being confined to the station all day, and then there was something weird going on with Holly but of course Gail hadn’t wanted to talk about it. Frankie thought the range might help Gail let off some steam. 

Dov was back at 15, working overtime with Matt checking whether Trent or Aaron owned a property or had access to one that might be their bolthole, a place they were likely to take the victims. 

The sensor light was out in the porch and she fumbled around to find the right key to put in the lock. As she opened the door and felt around for the hallway light switch, she was slammed into the wall with considerable force. A tall hooded figure ran passed her out of the house and down the porch steps. Chloe was so badly winded she was almost doubled over but somehow she managed to stand and push off after the guy.

Gasping and clutching her side, Chloe called out 'stop, police' but the man was already at least a block ahead of her. He looked to be fit and, with the pain in her side increasing and each breathe becoming more labored, she knew there was no way of catching up with him. When the man vaulted over a high brick wall, Chloe finally gave up the chase. She pressed a hand to her chest and tried to slow her breathing, although even that hurt. Damn, she hoped she hadn’t broken a rib. After a moment she fished her phone out her jean’s pocket and called Oliver.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘No one associated with FindLove has been reported missing. Detectives Strickland and Garcia have spent hours cross referencing the missing person’s register with the FindLove membership but they’ve found nothing,’ Elaine said, ‘It's possible we’re reading too much into what Trent said.’

‘Trent would realize we’ve figured out the FindLove connection so he may have deliberately chosen someone from FindLove who won’t be missed for a while, someone without family or close friends in Toronto,’ Gail suggested, ‘also it’s possible they took her today so no one’s filed a missing person’s report yet.’

‘Or,’ Frankie added, ‘it’s someone not associated with FindLove.’

‘Serial killers usually stick to their patterns. It’s all part of the fantasy Trent’s probably constructed and he won’t like to deviate from it, ‘ Holly said, ‘so it’s more likely he’s taken a FindLove member.’

‘Still its worth looking for any women reported missing who resemble the victims and I am well aware,’ Elaine held up her hand to stop any interjections from Gail and Frankie, ‘of how many blonde, blue-eyed women go missing each week in Canada, but we’ve got to explore all options.’

‘Okay,’ Frankie said, ‘Gail, um I mean Detective Peck and I can help with the search.’

‘No,’ Elaine said as she stood, ‘you’ve done enough for today.’

Gail sighed loudly. They were being sidelined. Clearly after this evening’s fiasco her mother didn’t trust them.

‘I only meant,’ Elaine looked at Gail sharply, clearly having heard her sigh, ‘that you’ve had enough for today. I think you three need to rest up so we can tackle this fresh in the morning.’

‘But if Trent and Aaron have someone now we can’t afford to wait until tomorrow,’ Gail said, ‘we can’t leave her out there.’ She drummed her fingers on the armrest of the couch in frustration. 

‘Gail,’ Holly said, placing her hand reassuringly on Gail’s arm, ‘it’s awful to think about it but it sounds like Trent and Aaron won’t do anything until they have you which buys us sometime. From what you’ve said it appears that part of the reason they take two women is so one of the women watches while the other suffers. Trent and Aaron would be getting off on that. It fits with the sadism they’ve displayed so far. Without you there they at least may not go through with sexually assaulting the victim.’

‘I think you’re right Dr Stewart, ‘ Elaine said, 

‘You seem to know quite a bit about serial killers,’ Frankie said, clearly a little impressed.

‘It’s fairly basic knowledge. I did some phycology units before I specialized in forensics,’ Holly shrugged modestly.

‘And of course you worked the Weeks serial case in San Francisco,’ Elaine said.

As Holly nodded in confirmation, it occurred to Gail that of course her mother would have checked up on the doctor. Elaine liked to have the low down on anyone on or associated with the force, particularly those in senior positions because, well Gail thought, knowledge is power. Then again, she wouldn’t put it past Elaine to look into Holly’s background to make sure she was suitable for her daughter. 

‘The Weeks case?’ Frankie queried.

‘Nasty piece of work. Maurice Weeks. Had a thing for teenage girls. He killed four girls before the SFPD caught him. He had plans to murder a least another five. They found a room in his house dedicated to what he termed his ‘crusade’. There were photographs of the girls, their addresses, information about their daily routines, what time they went to school, got home. Who visited the house regularly. Even information about their parent’s routines.’

‘That’s a lot of planning,’ Gail noted.

‘Again it’s fairly typical of a serial killer. They derive almost as much pleasure from the anticipation, and then afterwards from reliving the murder and sexual assault, as they do acting it out. So they will fantasize about it over and over and in elaborate detail. They usually meticulously plan the abduction. Leave nothing to chance because of course they like to be in control and it unnerves them if things don’t go to plan.’

‘Which means Trent has probably been watching Gail, even before she went to the gym,’ Elaine said.

‘Trent or Aaron,’ Gail grimaced.

‘True, but Trent must have been following you tonight, to approach you outside the bar and that wasn’t well thought out, it seemed opportunistic,’ Frankie said.

‘Maybe he’s acting out of character because he’s rattled,’ Gail suggested.

‘That’s possible, but in the car Trent accused you of being obsessed with him, but what if he was deflecting,’ Holly mused, ‘What if he’s obsessed with you to an even greater degree than he was with the other women because you present a challenge. Unlike the other women, you know exactly who he is and you’re doing everything you can to stop him.’

‘So getting Gail would prove he has ultimate control, she has become the prize,’ Frankie said.

‘It seems like it. Maybe he’s taking his time with Gail because she is the prize. You had no reports of Trent threatening the other victims before they were abducted, and if he had surely at least one of them would have told the police or a friend. Trent obviously obtains pleasure from tormenting women so maybe the way he’s toying with Gail represents a refinement of his MO. Perhaps it’s a way of building the anticipation, and so increasing his gratification,’ Holly said.  
Gail couldn’t help shuddering slightly and Holly drew her closer. Still Gail was fascinated that even now in the midst of this awful, gruesome mess, and even though she was so worried for Gail’s safety, Holly’s big brain couldn’t resist chewing over a puzzle.

Elaine looked thoughtful, ‘If Trent or Aaron are watching you Gail, you can’t go home, even if half of 15 appears to have taken up residence at your house. And if we can keep you safe Gail, it means if they have their next victim she may be spared, for now anyway.’

‘Which means the best way of protecting the victim is to keep Gail safe,’ Holly said.

‘At least it may buy us some time to find her,’ Elaine agreed.

‘Which also means Gail you can’t do anything foolhardy to put yourself at risk,’ Frankie said.

Gail nodded solemnly and the four women were briefly silent, each one of them thinking about the enormity of the task ahead of them. A gentle tap on the door interrupted their reflections and Oliver stepped into the office. He looked worried. 

‘I just got a call from Chloe. There was an intruder in Gail’s house. She tried to catch him but he was too fast. He was wearing a hoodie and Chloe couldn’t see his face but from his height and build she’s sure it was Trent.’

‘Oh my god, is she okay? Is there someone with her?’ Gail asked, rising from the couch. 

Holly noted the look of concern on Gail’s face that put lie to her oft-stated claim that she just tolerated the ‘Disney Princess’. It took Holly back to the time in the bath when Gail had hacked off her hair and couldn’t disguise how anxious she was for the people she hadn’t hesitated in that moment to call friends. 

‘She’s okay. Possibly some bruised ribs were he pushed her into the wall on his way out the door. Officers Moore and Pedersen are with her now. They had a look around. Nothing seems disturbed so they figure Chloe surprised him not long after he broke in.’

‘How did he get in?’ Elaine asked.

‘He broke the glass in the backdoor. Gail’s got a fairly high wall out the back of her place but he could have come through the neighbor’s yard.’

Elaine turned to look at Gail, with both eyebrows raised. 

‘No mother. I don’t have an alarm system,’ Gail sighed.

Elaine ignored the comment and instead instructed Gail, who was still standing and looking like she was ready to make a break for it, to take a seat. 

‘I need to see if Chloe is alright,’ Gail said stubbornly.

‘It’s okay, Chloe promised me she’ll go to the ER to get checked out once we get some more officers there,’ Oliver said kindly.

‘And Gail,’ Elaine said, ‘it’s the last place you should be right now. Detective Anderson take Detectives Kennedy and Epstein to assess the scene. Sergeant Shaw, we’ll need forensics over there in case we can get prints. Epstein will probably want to take Officer Price to the hospital.’

Of course her mother would be keeping tabs on who was dating whom at 15, Gail thought. Although the fact that Elaine indicated Dov should accompany Chloe to the ER suggested she wasn’t entirely heartless. Maybe just when it came to her daughter. 

‘I should be there. I could point out if anything has been tampered with in the house,’ Gail persisted.

‘No,’ Elaine said, ‘Detective Anderson and Officer Price can check that, we need to put you out of sight.’

Gail frowned. She wasn’t entirely excited about the prospect of Frankie and Chloe going through her room. The rest of the house was fine but her room was private, her sanctuary from the world, and, besides there were things in it that she’d rather Frankie and Chloe didn’t find. She’d just have to hope their search wasn’t too thorough.

‘Do we need to organize a safe house for Gail?’ Frankie asked.

‘No, I think Gail, Dr Stewart and you should spend the night at my house. That’s if you are happy to do so Detective Anderson and Dr Stewart. I doubt Trent or Aaron know the address and besides it’s as secure as a safe house, if not more so. With you and I there Detective Anderson, I don’t think we need to bring in any other officers to protect Gail, although Sergeant Shaw we’ll need an unmarked patrol car outside the house.’

Oliver nodded.

‘Mom, I’m not going back home, not with Dad there,’ Gail said adamantly, noticing her mother had given the other two a choice but assumed she’d fall into line.

‘Well, Bill is on a weeklong fishing trip with an old high school buddy so you won’t need to worry about running into him.’

‘Yay, I finally get to have a slumber party,’ Gail said. When she was ten Gail asked Elaine if she could invite a group of friends for a sleep-over but her mother’s caustic response meant she never asked again.

‘Don’t be so childish, Gail,’ Elaine said impatiently, ‘and don’t think I didn’t know about those boys and that girl, what was her name, Bella, who you used to sneak up to your room.’

Gail’s eyes went wide and Holly and Frankie turned and looked at her inquisitively.

‘Bella?’ Holly and Frankie asked in unison.

‘We never had sex or anything,’ Gail shrugged but Holly could tell that beneath her apparent nonchalance Gail was squirming. That and her hurried response made it clear she wasn’t keen to explain, at least not in front of Elaine.

Elaine again chose to ignore Gail. ‘So that’s settled then,’ she stated rather than asked and looked at the three women as if daring them to contradict. ‘Gail you and Dr Stewart can go and get settled there now. Detective Anderson and I will follow once we’ve sorted out what’s happening at your house.’

When none of them spoke, Elaine said, ‘Good, I’ll make arrangements to transport Gail and Dr Stewart. Detective Anderson come with me.’ With that, she turned and walked briskly from the room with Frankie and Oliver following mutely at her heel, a sign Gail had no doubt her mother would take as confirmation that she’d resumed control.

‘How is your family home the safest place to be?’ Holly asked astonished at how fast they’d been overtaken by the force that was Elaine Peck.

‘It’s in a gated community with a security guard. The house itself has enough alarms and surveillance cameras to put the Pentagon to shame,’ Gail said.

‘You grew up with that?’ Holly asked.

‘Oh yeah, always on high alert. Which is why Elaine can’t forgive me for not looking through that peephole when Perick came knocking.’

‘Oh, Gail,’ Holly said, reaching for her hand.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

 

Holly and Gail left 15 in the back of a police van – the type that only had windows up front so prisoners couldn’t see out and conveniently no one could see in. Elaine decided not to take any chances that either Trent or Aaron were watching the station. She’d organized for Strickland and Garcia to pick up Gail and Holly about half between 15 and the Peck household and take them the rest of the way.

‘Geez, I didn’t realize all police vans smelt the same,’ Holly said, wrinkling her nose.

‘That intoxicating mix of fear and desperation and sweat overlaid with a faint trace of puke,’ Gail said drily, ‘wait Lunchbox, this isn’t the first time you’ve been in one of these vans is it?’

Holly nodded.

‘Oh my god, you were arrested?’ Gail was incredulous, ‘wait, I bet it was at a demonstration.’

‘It was when I was at college,’ Holly admitted, ‘we were protesting against vivisection. Did you know that about two million animals are killed for research in Canada each year? It’s worse in the US. The number there is close to 30 million. And there’s no justification for it. All of the data collected from testing on animals could be obtained using other methods.’

‘Good to see the passion hasn’t died,’ Gail smiled, ‘So, I’m consorting with a known criminal.’

‘Well, the charges were dropped,’ Holly swatted Gail playfully.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

It felt weird to back in her family home. Gail hadn’t stepped foot here since Steve went to prison two years ago but her parents had left her room untouched. In fact it was almost as exactly as it was when she was a teenager. Gail had emerged out of the shower into her room to see Holly examining the sports medals that Elaine had insisted on displaying. Forget being worried about Price and Anderson going through her stuff, Holly seemed to be doing a fairly thorough job of it in her room here.

‘You never told me you won medals for track and swimming,’ Holly turned when she heard Gail, that lop-sided smile on her face that was so infurianingly hard to resist. 

Really, Gail had to admit, that smile was guaranteed to make her completely pliable, to do anything Holly asked of her, even reveal her closest held fears and secrets. The expression putty in Holly’s hands popped in to her head. Still she shrugged dismissively and said ‘Oh, they’re Elaine’s medals.’

‘I don’t see Elaine’s name on them,’ Holly said in a teasing tone.

‘Well, it was she who forced me to get up at the crack of dawn to train and forced me to those meets and it was she who boasted the loudest when I won the medals. If it had been up to me I would have stayed in bed.’

‘That’s not hard to believe. The staying in bed bit,’ Holly laughed and then arched an eyebrow, ‘with Bella perhaps?’

‘Ugh, I knew you’d bring that up again,’ Gail huffed.

‘Sooo?’

‘We just fooled around a bit when I was like 16. You know just kissing and stuff. She and her family moved away to Vancouver not long after.’

‘And that didn’t make you think you were attracted to girls.’

‘That definitely wasn’t in Elaine Peck’s master plan,’ said Gail, realizing she hadn’t even entertained the idea until Holly made it impossible to ignore. ‘Besides I just thought all girls experimented and then fantasized about kissing their best friend when they had sex with guys. If I’d known then how good sex was with women I wouldn’t have stopped at kissing.’

‘Is that so?’ Holly smiled playfully.

‘You know it’s so Holly who has ruined me for anyone else Stewart.’ 

‘Oh, Gail, it’s you who have ruined me,’ Holly said, her tone suddenly serious, ‘and I should never have left you alone last night, with everything you’re going through. I promised I would be here for you through this and I let you down.’

‘No, no Holly. I don’t know why I doubted you. It was stupid. I don’t want to sound self-pitying but you know everyone else left when it got too difficult and I spent yesterday convincing myself that’s what you’d done. I didn’t sleep the night before and I hadn’t eaten much all day and by the time I got to the bar I was feeling kind of out of it and then when I saw you with Natasha I just jumped to this ridiculous conclusion and even as I said it I kind of knew how stupid it was.’

‘Gail, if I was going to leave you, I promise I would discuss it with you,’ Holly took Gail’s hand and led her over to sit on the bed, ‘but I don’t plan on leaving you. You can’t get rid of me that easily. I want to grow old with you. I want a family with you. I want to experience life with you. Which is why I can’t handle it when you’re in danger of any kind.’

‘You want a family with me?’ Gail asked with a look of astonishment on her face.

‘Why is that so surprising?’

‘Well, after I said I wanted to adopt Sophie, you went to San Francisco.’

‘It was too early in the relationship Gail, we were barely together, and already we’d hit some bumps even without a child thrown into the mix, but yes I could see us with children eventually. As long as you’re happy to be the one that gives birth or we could adopt.’

Gail suddenly pulled Holly towards her and kissed her fiercely, and then pushed her back onto the bed. Holly responded, pulling Gail’s upper lip between her own, but after a moment she broke the kiss.

‘Wait, there’s something else I need to tell you,’ she said, moving so she was sitting up. 

Gail nodded but looked worried. ‘Okay,’ she said a little warily as she also pulled herself upright.

‘When I said the fact that I’d heard Trent threaten you on the phone wasn’t the issue what I meant was the problem was that you put yourself in that situation, you risk not just yourself but everything we have and that scares me more than I can tell you.’

Gail nodded again. ‘I realized that now. When I thought that my, well obsession, I guess it is an obsession with pursuing these guys, might have destroyed our relationship I was filled with such emptiness. It was almost too much to bear. I couldn’t believe how stupid I’d been.’

This time Holly nodded. 

‘After you told me about Perick, I locked myself in my office and cried. I couldn’t stand that had happened to you and I couldn’t bear the thought that I might never have known you and that all this would be taken from us. That thought was,’ Holly paused and absentmindedly pushed her glasses back up. ‘I can’t even describe it, devastating doesn’t even come close. I mean I’m a scientist. Until I met you I used to scoff at the idea that there is only one person for us but then no one’s ever made me feel this way before. I’ve always been fairly self-sufficient but I literally can’t live without you and, I don’t want to sound melodramatic, but losing you would destroy me and yesterday I thought you were going to die.’

‘Oh, Holly,’ Gail said quietly, pulling Holly into a tight hug, burying her face in the crook of Holly’s neck ‘oh I am sorry I’ve done this to you. Ever since this case started, I feel like I’ve been overtaken by this fog of, I don’t know, madness? It’s like if I get these killers I’ll be redeemed. It will go someway towards atoning for Jerry. I realize it’s irrational, and I’m trying really hard to resist thinking that way, and I know it’s no excuse but it’s making me do some crazy things.’

‘Honey, I get you feel like you owe these women, that you owe Jerry,’ Holly said, ‘but you were Jerry’s friend and wouldn’t he want his friend to be safe and happy, wouldn’t that make his sacrifice worthwhile?’

‘Yes,’ Gail breathed so quietly Holly could just make out the word, but then she said more firmly, ‘Yes, yes you’re right Holly.’ 

She moved so their faces were millimeters apart and then slowly leaned in to kiss Holly, softly at first and then with greater intensity. This time it was Holly who pushed her back on the bed, running a hand up Gail’s pajama clad leg, across her hip and then under her top. Gail moaned softly.

‘Is it right to do this, when Trent and Aaron are still out there, maybe with,’ Gail trailed off, leaving unsaid the next part of the sentence but Holly knew she meant with their next victim.

‘I need this,’ Holly said and Gail immediately understood. 

After the last 24 hours this made sense because sex with Holly always felt right and good, the connection an antidote to the evil they couldn’t help but be exposed to in their jobs. Sex with Holly, no matter if it were a fast and intense fuck or languid and measured, had a purity and truthfulness that transcended the prosaic, the idiocy and the injustices they butted up against everyday. Above all it bound the two of them together in a way that Gail had never imagined possible before Holly. 

And it reminded Gail that life could be a thing of beauty, full of trust and goodness and joy and wonder. It hit her that Jerry had known this and he knew that all of those things were there inside of her, even if she choose to bury them beneath that aloof exterior and even as others dismissed her as cold and arrogant and a bitch. Gail understood then that to honor Jerry meant choosing a life with Holly. Strip bare her defenses and give herself over completely to a woman she could trust with her innermost self, and with whom Gail felt she could make a life of promise and hope worthy of Jerry’s sacrifice. 

This realization was like a release, as if a great weight had been lifted. It made Gail feel almost euphoric and, even though she should have been utterly exhausted after the day she’d had, she was suddenly energized. She reached for Holly, pulling her in close and holding her tightly. Holly dipped her head down and kissed Gail. The kiss was slow but deliberate, imbued with longing and want and love, an unhurried foretaste of the passion that would follow.

As the kiss ended, Holly looked at Gail with a mischievous expression. ‘Anyway, I plan to make you come so hard and in so many ways, it would have blown your teenage self’s mind,’ she said.

‘Why Holly are you jealous of my inept fumblings with Bella? Who knew you were so competitive.’

‘Oh, I don’t need to be jealous because this isn’t a level playing field. The thing is Gail I’m fairly confident, in fact extremely confident that nobody else has ever made you come like I do. So the only contest here is how many times I’m going to make you come.’ Holly’s voice was so sultry and teasing and so self-assured it alone was enough to spike Gail’s desire.

‘Well, what are you waiting for,’ Gail said.


	21. Twenty-one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters.
> 
> Sorry it has taken longer than usual to update. I was travelling for work all last week and didn’t get a chance to finish the chapter before I left or do much work on it while I was away. 
> 
> As always thanks so much for commenting, subscribing and bookmarking, leaving kudos and of course for reading. I always love to hear what you think of this story so please let me know. I really do appreciate feedback.
> 
> I proof this myself so the mistakes are totally mine (and it’s really late and I should probably re-read this again in the morning but I really want to post it).

When Gail woke she found Holly sitting cross-legged on the bed next to her with a photo album in her lap. Holly had found an old t-shirt of Gail’s to wear and her hair had that disheveled appearance that came from having spent a good part of the night before having sex. She was focused intently on the photos, although a hint of that lopsided smile quirked the corner of her lips. 

Gail couldn’t believe how beautiful Holly was, how utterly sexy, even like this or maybe especially like this with her mussed up hair and the old t-shirt that strained rather provocatively across her breasts so Gail could the see firm, round shape of them outlined against the thin material. It made her think of last night and how Holly had moaned when she touched those breasts, tweaking a nipple between her fingers or taking it between her lips and biting down gently but with enough force to make Holly give a sharp cry of pleasure. 

Holly must have become aware that Gail was watching her because she looked up from the album and her smile widened. Gail literally felt her heart swell and the emotion she felt was so huge, so all consuming, that for a moment she thought she couldn’t contain it within herself and it would spill out across the bed and she wouldn’t be able to stop it. Then she realized that of course it had already spilled out, this love that enveloped both she and Holly. 

It struck her then how strange it was to experience these feelings, these huge and wonderful feelings, back here in her family home. After all it was a place were love had always been conditional and happiness had been drowned out by guilt and angst and all things Peck, and where before Holly nothing could ease the oppressive yoke that settled upon her once within it’s four walls.

Gail knew she was grinning like an idiot back at Holly. How did she get so lucky to find this woman? This amazing, smart, caring, sexy nerd who loved her, even all the dissonant and uncertain parts of her, those recalcitrant fragments that eventually made everyone else run but seemed to make Holly more determined to stay.

‘You’re awake,’ Holly said.

‘And you’re snooping,’ Gail replied but her tone was light and she was still smiling. 

She stretched then, raising her arms above her head, making the sheet drop to her waist. The movement drew Holly’s eyes to Gail’s naked torso and the look on her face was so desirous, so adoring that it caused Gail to draw her bottom lip between her teeth at the thrill that rippled through her. 

True to her word, Holly had been unrelenting in bringing her to orgasm again and again last night until Gail had lost count and her voice became hoarse from crying out Holly’s name. Not that Gail hadn’t returned the favor and she knew that beneath the t-shirt Holly bore the telltale marks of the pleasure she’d given her and they both wore the heady smell of each other smeared across their bodies. 

Despite the intervening hours of sleep, Gail still had that post-sex feeling, her body languorous, replete, those feel good hormones not having completely subsided, making her skin tingle faintly, responsive to the slightest touch and it seemed even that look from Holly. 

‘You were gorgeous as a Goth,’ Holly said returning her gaze to the album and tilting the book to show Gail the photo she had been examining and which had caused that little crooked smile of appreciation Gail had noticed when she woke. 

‘The black hair was really striking with your blue eyes and against your white skin. You looked,’ Holly paused searching for the right word, ‘sort of delicate but beautiful and scary all at once.’

‘Really,’ said Gail moving to sit up so she was leaning against Holly’s side. 

‘I bet you would have totally ignored me at school or tormented me,’ Holly said.

‘Oh no, I kind of liked the nerds. They were so preoccupied with geeking out over their nerdy pastimes they didn’t give a shit about banal things like who was dating who or if they had the coolest clothes or the latest phone or the fact that they were pretty much at the bottom of the school hierarchy. I tormented the jocks.’

‘And yet you dated Nick.’

‘He might look like a jock but he was a tortured soul and my Goth heart found that dark twisty side of him very attractive.’

‘Was sex with him good?’

‘Why do you even care,’ Gail said, screwing up her face, ‘I like sex and sex with guys I dated was generally good, but just nowhere near as good as sex with women. I mean you know that. Wait, are you wanting me to compare you with Nick?’

‘No, no,’ Holly protested quickly, ‘it’s just he was your most significant relationship before me and I don’t know. You were with him longer than we’ve been together.’

‘And I plan on being with you longer than I was with him,’ Gail smiled, ‘and with Nicholas, with any of the men I dated, it was never like this. After sex, I never wanted to be close to them. Usually if I was at their place, I’d get up and go home. I mean I cared about Nick. I thought he was it for me but then I didn’t know any better. I didn’t know then that what we have was possible. So there is no comparison.’ Gail shrugged and took Holly’s hand, running her thumb across the outside of it.

‘I wonder if you would have taken any notice of me if we had met at school.’

‘Oh god Holly, I would have fallen for you even if I’d been born deaf, dumb and with no eyeballs.’ 

Holly laughed, ‘Gail only you could make a declaration like that so macabre.’

‘But it’s true,’ Gail insisted.

‘And weirdly romantic,’ Holly laughed again, and Gail couldn’t help but think that only Holly would see that. 

‘You saved me,’ Gail said simply.

If Holly was surprised by the abrupt turn in the conversation, she didn’t show it. She was getting quite used to Gail’s habit of unexpectedly shifting from one seemingly unrelated topic to another. 

‘It was you who saved yourself. You stomped down on Trent’s foot. I was just screaming hysterically.’

‘No,’ Gail said, taking the photo album from Holly and placing it on the bedside table, ‘the fact of you saved me. I don’t think I was very happy until I met you. Now I actually think I like myself.’

‘Gail,’ Holly said, tilting her head to one side, her smile warm and understanding, ‘you did that. You choose to be happy.’

‘You made it impossible for me to make any other choice, Holly.’ Gail leant over and, cupping Holly’s face in her hands, kissed her softly and slowly so the kiss was like a gentle caress that held everything Gail felt in that moment, love and happiness and gratitude and a kind of peace with herself. It was interrupted by Gail’s stomach rumbling loudly and they both laughed.

‘I think we need to feed you,’ Holly said, moving off the bed and tugging Gail up with her.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Frankie was sitting at the kitchen island drinking coffee when Gail and Holly came downstairs. They had showered first and Gail had supplied Holly with another slightly ill fitting shirt. Its tightness had forced Holly to leave an additional button undone and Gail found herself a little distracted by the extra cleavage on display. 

‘You know you are going to have to stop staring at my breasts once we get downstairs,’ Holly said, ‘that is unless you want your mother to know about one of your current obsessions.'

Gail whipped her eyes up to Holly’s face. ‘If she’d seen you naked she’d understand.’

‘I think I’m happy to leave her in the dark on that one. I have no intention of showing her my breasts anytime.’

‘Oh god no,’ Gail said adamantly, a horrified expression on her face. ‘Anyway it’s your fault. I wouldn’t stare if you didn’t leave so many buttons undone. Why do you do that? Is it to give a hint of what lies beneath that white lab coat and that nerdy exterior?’

‘Ha, who do you think I am? Clarke Kent? No it’s because you like it,’ Holly teased.

‘But you wore your shirts like that before we dated, when we were just friends.’

‘As I said, because you liked it. What do you think was one of the things that made me think you might not be quite so straight.’

‘Oh,’ Gail replied, ‘was I that obvious?’

‘A little,’ Holly laughed, ‘enough to give me hope that I wasn’t reading the signals wrong.’

In the kitchen, Frankie regarded the two women with a smirk. 

‘Oh good, you’re awake,’ she said, ‘the profiler flew in last night and is due to give a briefing at the station at 8.30am. The Superintendent wants you there too Holly. We’re leaving in 15 minutes.’

‘Geez, I wished she’d given us some warning, like told us last night,’ Gail grumbled.

‘Well, she intended to when she showed me to the guest room,’ Frankie said, her smirk becoming more pronounced, ‘but she changed her mind when she heard the noises coming from your room.’

‘Oh fuck,’ Holly said, her eyes widening and a blush spreading up her neck and across her face, ‘Superintendent Peck heard us having sex. You heard us. Oh fuck.’ 

She didn’t know which was worse, being overheard by Elaine or Frankie. Holly knew Frankie still had some residue feelings for Gail and she certainly didn’t want to make her uncomfortable or unnecessarily upset her by flaunting their relationship.

‘It’s okay Holly, I think Elaine realizes we have sex,’ Gail said matter-of-factly and Holly was too mortified about Elaine overhearing them to realize she was being gently mocked. When they first met Gail hardly ever heard Holly curse and now she wondered if she was driving Holly to it. Gail couldn’t deny it. Holly’s life had a whole lot more crazy with her in it.

‘How can you be so calm about this, Gail? I just convinced your mother to take me seriously and now she’s probably heard me incoherently moaning your name.’

‘Um, actually at the time it was Gail calling out your name and there was nothing incoherent about it, it was quite clear,’ Frankie said, plainly amused by Holly’s discomfort, ‘we all know Gail is pretty loud.’

There it was again. That reminder Frankie couldn’t resist slipping in that she and Gail used to have sex. Only moments ago Holly was feeling sorry for Frankie. She didn’t understand why Frankie did it. By her own admission, Frankie knew she didn’t stand a chance with Gail and yet she persisted with these insinuations. 

Was being obnoxious just part of Frankie’s DNA, Holly wondered. Whatever it was, it annoyed the hell out of her, and Holly resolved, once this investigation was over, to find someone in her network of friends she could introduce to Frankie. Perhaps that would put a stop to it. She wondered if Lisa and Frankie would work. They probably deserved each other.

‘Jeez Frankie, nothing like a sweeping generalization,’ Gail said, thinking they hadn’t actually been that noisy, conscious as they were of their surroundings and the fact that Elaine was due back at the house, so she knew Frankie was exaggerating.

‘Don’t worry the Superintendent was quite relaxed about it,’ Frankie shrugged.

In fact when she and Elaine reached the landing and heard the sounds of Gail and Holly very clearly having sex, Frankie had stopped abruptly and tried to back down the stairs.

‘What’s the matter?’ Elaine had asked curtly, ‘you’re not prudish are you Detective? Sex is a very healthy part of a relationship and it’s not uncommon after a near death experience for people to seek affirmation of their survival through intercourse. Anyway I find it hard to believe a woman like you with so many notches in her belt would be bothered by this.’

Frankie had blinked in surprise. Not that she was going to reveal any of that to Gail and Holly. 

‘Relaxed?’ Holly asked.

‘Yeah, totally unfazed. She told me it was natural,’ Frankie replied.

Gail laughed. ‘Oh my God, I wish I’d been there to hear my mother give you a lecture on sex. Oh that would have been priceless.’

Frankie scowled. ‘I’m guessing you’ve already had the talk.’

‘Oh yeah, many, many years ago.’ As Gail started to shrug her stomach rumbled again, ‘Is there any food?’ she asked.

‘Low-fat yogurt,’ Frankie made a face. 

A bank of refrigerators, with silver doors so shiny Holly could see her reflection, took up one half of a wall in the cavernous kitchen. Even the countertops and the bench at which Frankie sat were stainless steel and this, combined with the slate grey floor, gave the kitchen a cold, almost sterile look. Holly thought her lab was more inviting. 

Holly had grown up in a warm, cozy kitchen messy with domesticity. It had an old wooden table that bore the marks of shared meals and laughter and homework done while her parents cooked, a shelf over-crowded with cookbooks and a refrigerator covered with the paraphernalia of a busy family - photos, reminders, invitations and merit certificates she and her brother Gabe had won at school as well as the occasional sports ribbon. 

Holly wondered if the rest of the house was as impersonal. Last night Gail hadn’t shown her around but had taken Holly straight to her room. If Holly had asked, Gail would have been able to tell her that Elaine’s personal assistant kept track of family appointments from athletic meets to haircuts; that the only photos on display were the stiff, awkward family portraits and the mandatory shots of she and Steve graduating from college and then the Academy, most showing an unsmiling Gail. There was no need for cookbooks either as Elaine had a housekeeper who prepared dinner each day, unless Elaine was dining out or entertaining, both regular occurrences before the Pecks’ fall from grace.

Holly opened the refrigerator doors one by one to search for food but found that Frankie was right. There were only a few cartons of low-fat yogurt and a bag of shriveled celery sticks that looked way past their use by date.

‘Why all these refrigerators and no food?’ Holly asked, ‘is the Superintendent on some sort of diet?’

‘Oh my mother doesn’t eat regular food, Holly. You should know that,’ Gail said drily.

Holly looked at Gail skeptically.

‘She feeds on the flesh of the misfortunes and the mistakes and humiliations of the minions around her. That is enough to sustain her,’ Gail deadpanned and Holly's expression became even more dubious.

‘Ghoulish, Peck,’ Frankie said.

‘Oh alright, alright. Elaine used to host dinners and cocktail parties to schmooze the pillars of Toronto society. They stopped after Steve went to prison and my father was suspended. No one wants to dine with the disgraced’

‘Well, we need to get you some proper food,’ Holly said.

Gail smiled because Holly of course knew that after that rather marathon sex last night Gail would be hungrier than usual. If Frankie hadn’t been in the room Gail would have kissed Holly.

‘Will donuts do?’ asked a peppy voice.

Holly and Gail spun around from their inspection of the refrigerators to see Chloe walking in holding a box of pastries. 

‘Chloe,’ Gail exclaimed, making no attempt to downplay her relief at seeing her friend, ‘what are you doing here? Are you okay?’

Gail moved towards Chloe but stopped just short of her and rocked back on her heels, her body suddenly tense, but then stuttered forward, her arms slightly extended and a little askew before coming to a stop again. She was caught between hugging Chloe and backing off, and Holly would have found the whole graceless dance amusing had she not known how difficult it was for Gail to be open about her feelings for her friends, particularly when it came to psychical displays of affection. 

‘It’s okay, Gail. You don’t have to hug me. My ribs are bruised anyway,’ Chloe smiled.

It was enough for Gail to continue on and give Chloe a gentle but swift hug.

‘That’s for the donuts and I’m glad you’re okay,’ she said softly, and then added more loudly, ‘So are you going to share those donuts.’

Chloe placed the box on the counter, undoing the lid to reveal twelve golden donuts with a variety of glazes and frostings. Gail reached for one with white frosting and sprinkles, sighing happily as she bit into it.

‘Simple pleasures,’ Frankie said acerbically.

‘You know donuts, or an early form, date back to the Medieval Ages in Europe. Apparently it started out as a deep-fried dough that Christians would eat as a treat on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent. It was also a way of using up all the butter, sugar and fat in the house because of course during Lent you were supposed to deny yourself those kinds of indulgences,’ Holly said.

This time not caring that Frankie and Chloe were watching, Gail smiled and leant over to give Holly an unhurried kiss, leaving behind a faint trace of sugar on her lips. Holly ran the tip of her tongue around them to wipe away the sugar and then smiled back at Gail. For an instant they held each other's gaze. If Gail had struggled to be open about her feelings an instant ago, now the look on her face was one of pure and naked love and it was mirrored by Holly’s expression. 

From her position at the kitchen island, Frankie felt like she was intruding on a private moment but then couldn’t help thinking ‘damn those two are hot together’. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Chloe grinning like a sap. Typical. It was then that Frankie felt it. The jealousy. Not of Holly because she had Gail or Gail because she chose Holly. Frankie might be supremely confident about her attractiveness to women but she wasn’t delusional and she knew that Gail had never looked at her the way she was looking at Holly. 

No, Frankie realized with some surprise she was jealous of what Gail and Holly had and she had never experienced. It didn’t make her bitter, well not anymore prickly than she was already, but rather there lodged in her heart a longing that she couldn’t ignore. While this revelation was not entirely unwelcome, it unnerved her. This was not who she was, Frankie thought. She was a love ‘em and leave ‘em girl, always moving on before things got stale. Frankie was so unsettled by this unexpected turn that she felt compelled to break the bubble of bliss that seemed to have settled around Gail and Holly. She found herself speaking, although her words sounded gruffer than she intended.

‘What are you actually doing here Price, besides delivering donuts? Shouldn’t you be off work, recuperating?’ 

‘Dov and Matt are here to drive you and Gail to the station, so I tagged along with them. I couldn’t stay at Gail’s last night – apart from the mess the forensics made dusting for prints, the Superintendent didn’t want to risk Trent returning - so I stayed with Dov. Anyway the Superintendent wants me at the briefing with the profiler. I can’t go out on patrol, but I can help out at 15.’ Chloe’s upbeat answer gave no indication she was offended by Frankie’s tone.

‘But are your ribs okay?’ Gail asked.

‘A little tender. But I’d rather be at the station doing something to catch these guys than feeling sorry for myself at Dov’s.’

‘And how much mess did forensics leave?’ Gail grumbled, though it was obvious from her next comment that she was feigning displeasure. ‘I mean as the girlfriend of the Deputy Chief of Forensics,’ Gail turned to Holly, ‘I thought I’d get some special consideration but they don’t even clean up after themselves. Clearly you need to teach them some basic protocols Holly.’

‘It wasn’t too messy considering how thorough they were. I just didn’t get a chance to clean it up,’ Chloe reassured Gail.

‘So Chloe, if you and Frankie and Gail are going in with Dov and Matt, how am I getting back to the station?’ Holly asked, ignoring Gail’s teasing. 

‘Oh, you’ll be riding with me,’ Elaine said as she came into the kitchen and then added, without seeming to take a breath, ‘really Gail, donuts. It’s barely eight in the morning.’

Gail rolled her eyes and Holly pointedly reached into the box to grab one of the donuts. Taking a bite, she said ‘Mmmm, these are delicious.’

Gail had to stifle a laugh. She was well aware that her health conscious girlfriend found donuts overly sweet but clearly Holly was willing to eschew her wholesome eating habits in defense of Gail. The way she said ‘mmm’, drawing out the sound, her voice husky and suggestive made Gail wonder if Holly had decided she didn’t care that Elaine had heard them last night.

Elaine peered at the box of donuts with distaste and then slapped a copy of the Toronto Star on the counter.

‘How did know Martha Fisher find out Trent tried to abduct Gail and attempted to strangle her. Someone on this investigation is leaking to the media and it’s playing right into Trent’s hands. Publicity is what he wants. Can you imagine how powerful it makes him feel to have the whole of Toronto spooked.’ 

Elaine was literally vibrating with anger, so much so that Holly thought if it were possible for steam to come out of her ears it would have. The Superintendent’s expression was accusatory as she looked around at the four women in her kitchen.

‘Calm down mother,’ Gail said, ‘It’s not like any of us here are the leaker. We’re just as angry as you are about this.’

Elaine regarded Gail for a moment.

‘Well, any ideas who it could be?’

‘The leaks started before you took over the investigation and brought in additional officers, so my guess is it’s someone on or close to the original team.’

‘That makes sense,’ Frankie agreed.

‘And it’s not me or Frankie or Chloe and it certainly wouldn’t be McNally or Dov or Chris and I trust Matt, even if he can run off at the mouth sometimes. The only other three officers who’ve worked with us closely are Anna Robinson, Todd Pedersen and Gerald. I don’t think it is Gerald. Ever since his stepfather went down, the job is all Gerald has, even if he’s barely competent at it. Which leaves us with Officers Robinson and Pedersen. Somehow I don’t think it is Robinson. She strikes me as someone who is loyal’

‘By Gerald, I take it you mean Officer Moore,’ Elaine said.

Gail nodded and wondered how her mother had found out that this was Duncan’s nickname. Truly her reach verged on the superhuman. All those people she had being her eyes and ears on the force gave her an omnipresence that might have been impressive if it weren’t so alarming. Elaine was probably wasted on the police force, Gail mused, her ability to gather even seemingly inconsequential information would have made her well suited to intelligence.

‘I bet it’s that homophobic asshole, Pedersen,’ Frankie said.

‘What do you mean, homophobic,’ Elaine turned to Frankie.

‘Exactly what she said,’ Gail shrugged.

‘There is no room on the modern force for that kind of attitude,’ Elaine cut in, her voice stern, ‘why haven’t you reported him?’

‘Mother, those things can be hard to prove. Often it's just a snide comment, said as an aside and you can't be 100 per cent sure you heard it right. Anyway, people in the force already make assumptions about you when they know you’re gay, and if you make a complaint there are still a lot of people who brand you a troublemaker and who’ll go out of their way to make life difficult for you. You have to pick your battles’.

How unfair it was that Gail always butted up against obstruction because of who she was, Holly thought. The Peck name had been a millstone, in the first place because it was synonymous with police royalty and more recently because it spelt corruption, and now, from what Gail was saying, it was clear her sexuality was used as a slight by some of the people she worked with. 

Yet once Gail had identified she was gay she never wavered from it, never hid it. In fact from the moment she and Holly admitted their attraction, Gail never doubted the rightness of it. Holly was filled with admiration for Gail, thinking this conviction showed a strength and resolve that understandably others coming to terms with their sexuality under similar circumstances - at a relatively late age, with controlling parents who had a very different plan for her future and in a work culture that was not always supportive - would have found hard to maintain.

‘Still if we don’t stamp it out, if we don’t challenge those attitudes then they will prevail,’ Elaine insisted.

‘It must have been similar for you, as a woman breaking into the ranks, when you first joined the force Superintendent,’ Holly said. 

Elaine nodded.

‘And I bet you didn’t complain?’

‘No, I found other ways of dealing with it. I have a long memory.’

‘Don’t worry, we have ways too,’ Frankie’s smile was slightly evil as she recalled sending Pedersen dumpster diving, ‘and it can be slow for some but attitudes are changing on the force. It’s not an issue for most people.’

‘Yeah, it's just the occasional idiot like Pedersen,’ Gail agreed. ‘Actually I know just how to trap him,’ she added excitedly, ‘let’s feed him some misinformation. If it’s in tomorrow’s paper, we’ll know it’s him.’

‘Like what?’ Frankie asked.

‘We’ll tell him the killer has left Toronto. That he panicked as we started to close in and we believe he has fled to the US.’

‘Trent will hate to be seen as a quitter, so it has the added benefit of increasing the pressure on him,’ Holly said.

‘Yes,’ Elaine agreed, ‘which could work out well for us. It’s a good plan.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

‘Don’t break her heart again,’ Elaine said.

‘Pardon,’ Holly said, totally unprepared for the Superintendent’s remark

The first part of the car ride to 15 had passed in near silence. Elaine had commented on how fine the day was and Holly had concurred. Really Holly should have guessed that Elaine had a reason for maneuvering to get her alone in the car.

‘Don’t break Gail’s heart again. Like you did when you went to San Francisco.’

‘Um, it was a mutual break-up, Superintendent.’

‘Really,’ Elaine quirked an eyebrow.

The action reminded Holly of Gail and she was startled by how disconcerted she was by this. 

‘And call me Elaine. It’s a little strange to be calling each other by our titles given that you and my daughter are,’ Elaine paused and took one hand off the steering wheel which she waved vaguely in the air. 

What was Elaine trying to say, Holly wondered. When she and Gail were what? Having sex every chance they got, including in Gail’s childhood bedroom in the family home. No she couldn’t think about that not when she was stuck in a car with Gail’s mother. Not when she could recall every part of last night in vivid detail. Not when her body still had that post-sex hum, that feeling that was equal parts contentment and bliss, her muscles deliciously stretched but relaxed, her skin bearing marks reminding her of how Gail had paid attention to nearly every inch of it. 

‘Are you serious about her?’ Elaine asked and Holly realized she’d never know what that little wave of the hand referred to.

‘Completely.’ Holly saw no reason to conceal this from Elaine.

‘Well you’re better for her then those idiot boys. They had no idea how to handle Gail, and Detective Anderson was completely wrong for her too.’

‘Um, I don’t think of myself handling Gail or that Gail needs to be handled.’

Elaine once again waved her hand, but this time it was dismissively.

‘You’re good for her. That is all I’m trying to say.’

‘Oh,’ Holly couldn’t conceal her surprise, ‘I think we’re good for each other.’

‘Do you want children?’ Elaine asked abruptly, ignoring Holly’s comment. 

Maybe Gail had learnt her habit of suddenly changing topic mid conversation from Elaine, Holly mused. But where it was charming, if often bewildering, when Gail did it, Elaine simply appeared officious.

‘Uh, that’s kind of personal.’

‘Well, you left for San Francisco when Gail decided to adopt,’ Elaine said flicking the indicator on and smoothly negotiating through the traffic to reach the outside lane of the freeway.

‘That wasn’t the reason I left, except that it was too early in the relationship to test it with a child. We wanted different things. I spent two years regretting it.’

‘So children aren’t out of the question?’

Holly couldn’t help but smile wryly at Elaine’s tenacity. The woman just wouldn’t give up.

‘No. Children are a possibility, and that is something Gail and I have discussed,’ Holly said, putting the stress on ‘Gail and I’ and thinking thank god they had talked about it last night, if only in passing. 

Elaine gave a small smile and Holly couldn’t help but think there was something triumphant about it. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Generally, serial killers are consummate role-players,’ Agent Ed Pearce, the profiler from the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit was explaining to the team assembled in the Incident room. 

Pearce didn’t look like a conventional agent. His hair was a little shaggy and he had a beard that was mostly neat but certainly not close cropped. He was a little less than six foot and had a wiry build that suited his intense delivery. Gail was aware Pearce had several degrees in criminal justice and psychology, as well as a graduate degree in forensic psychology and had trained with the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit. She got the sense he lived and breathed profiling. It wouldn’t surprise her if he was somewhere on the autism spectrum.

‘Serial killers can appear to be likable and harmless,’ Peace continued, ‘typically they are charismatic and often good-looking. This makes it easy to get women to trust them.’

That's certainly the way Trent presents,' Frankie said.

'Yes. He may lack empathy but Trent will know how to read people well and how to exploit their vulnerabilities. He'll use this and his charm to manipulate people into doing things they might not normally agree to. It's likely the victims consented to go with him, initially at least. Trent's attempt to abduct Detective Peck was outside of his usual pattern.'

'So why change his methodology now?’ Dov asked, 'it's not exactly a refinement.'

Like Holly, Agent Pearce described Trent's approach to the killings as ritualistic - each murder would be carried out following the same pattern. The only deviation would be small refinements that Trent owed to serendipity rather than design. For example, he might find a more efficient way to tie the restraints or come up with a smoother line to convince the victim to accompany him; it might be in the humiliations he inflicted on his victims. However, in the main Trent would stick very closely to his script. He would methodically plan each rape and murder, becoming almost as consumed by fantasizing about the act as by the act itself. 

'My guess is Trent's obsession with Detective Peck is making him act out of character, which is good news for us because this is someone who likes to always be in control. If he's unraveling it increases our chances of getting him.'

'He's likely to make mistakes,' Elaine clarified. 

'Yes, and this is where forensics will be vital,' Pearce gave a nod in Holly's direction, 'He'll get sloppy about leaving evidence. The arm hair is an example of that. Trent's MO is typical of an organized killer. He takes the victims to a second location to kill them and then disposes the body at a third location. We are dealing with at least three different crime scenes so it makes it tough to collect evidence.'

'And that second location, where he takes the women, it's likely to be the same place each time?' Gail asked.

Pearce nodded in confirmation. 

'So really we should be concentrating on the second location - where Trent kills the women. It's the one location, apart from the FindLove events, common to all his murders and it's probably where he's taken his latest victim.'

'Yes,' Pearce agreed, 'though if you haven’t turned up any leads as to where that place might be I wouldn’t hold my breath. Trent will be moving around Toronto, quite possibly in this neighborhood and anywhere else he thinks you’re likely to be Detective Peck. He’s arrogant enough to think he’ll go undetected, that he’s too smart to be caught. In addition to the APB you’ve got out on Trent, I’d recommend releasing his photo to the media, get them to identify him as a person of interest.’

‘Won’t he just feed off the media attention?’ Frankie asked. 

‘It’s a risk, but if it means the two and a half million plus people who live in this city are on the look out for him it could mean we’ll catch him faster.’

‘What about Aaron? How does he fit in?’ Frankie said.

‘I’d say he’s a follower. A stooge. Trent would have also used his charm to manipulate Aaron. Most probably Aaron has strong feelings of inadequacy, he’s someone with a chip on his shoulder who feels like the world owes him something. Trent would give him a sense of purpose and make him feel wanted, appreciated, something Aaron clearly didn’t believe he got from his family. He would look up to Trent, be desperate for his approval.’

‘So Trent gives him a sense of belonging,’ Gail said.

‘Yes and getting Aaron to participate in the killings reinforces that; it makes him complicit and would bind him to Trent even more.’

‘And that, as we’ve found, makes Aaron less likely to tell us anything about Trent,’ Elaine said, ‘would you classify Aaron as a serial killer?’

‘No, as I said he’s just a follower. I doubt he even does the killing.’

‘From what his brother Danny says, it sounds as if he likes to watch,’ Gail said.

‘And that increases the sense of power Trent experiences as he commits these acts, because power is what he’s getting off on here. Based on what we know about Trent he fits the profile of the archetype serial killer. Neglected childhood, unwanted by the step-mother, who mistreated him, literally abandoned by his father when the father died.’

‘So the stepmother’s death triggered this psychopathic behavior?’ Holly asked.

‘Yes. There is the report of him committing at least one alleged rape when he was at high school, which again fits the profile of a serial killer. They begin indulging in deviant behavior as teenagers, however it often takes a major event to tip them over the edge. The stepmother’s death meant Trent was denied killing her or at least the satisfaction of punishing her for what he sees as her wrongs. The fact that the vics look like the stepmother means Trent kills her over and over again. To me that says this is about power and revenge.’

'And none of this is getting us any closer to finding the victim,' Gail said, clearly frustrated.

'We don't know for sure if he has another vic,' the profiler pointed out.

There was a small commotion at the door and Gail realized that while they had been talking her mother had moved over to speak to Oliver, who had appeared in the room.

'Actually, Agent Pearce, we do have a victim. Melanie Tovy. 24. Missing for the last two days and a member of FindLove. Our first priority is to find her,’ Elaine said, her tone making it clear this was an order.

'But if we find Trent we'll find her,’ Pearce said.

‘We can’t take the risk that he’ll kill her before that,’ Elaine replied, her voice clipped, her displeasure at Pearce’s nerve in questioning her clear.

‘Well, have you considered using Detective Peck as bait. It’s a surefire way of finding Trent quickly.’

Holly half rose from her chair and Elaine stiffened but in the end it was Frankie who spoke. She realized in an instant that neither woman could publicly object to Pearce’s proposal because of their relationship to Gail.

‘That’s not going to happen,’ she stated firmly, ‘it’s too risky.’

‘It won’t be much different to what you are doing now. Just keep Detective Peck on the investigation, moving around the city. Trent won’t make a move unless she’s out there and when he does make a move we’ll be ready because we’ll surround Detective Peck with every spare officer you’ve got. He won’t get to Detective Peck because we’ll get him first’

‘If it means we find Trent faster, I’m willing to do it,’ Gail said softly.

‘Agent Pearce, Detective Anderson, Sergeant Shaw, I’d like a word with you three,’ Elaine said, ‘in Sergeant Shaw’s office now.’ With that Elaine marched out of the room.

Holly turned to Gail.

‘Please don’t do this,’ she said so quietly Gail had to strain to hear. 

Gail stood and with a small nod indicated Holly should follow her. Once out in the corridor, she led Holly into one of the interrogation rooms. 

‘If I can be assured this is low risk, I can do this,’ Gail said, taking Holly’s hand.

‘You keep saying that every time you go undercover in this investigation or go after Trent and yet just yesterday you told me you shouldn’t be on this case, that it was messing with your head. And he came very close to taking you.’

‘I know, I know but it just keeps coming back to me. I seem to be the key to catching Trent. I don’t like it anymore than you do Holly. I wish we could just go away somewhere nice, hole up for weeks and forget about all of this’ 

Gail moved so there was very little space between she and Holly. Cupping Holly’s face in her hands, she kissed her. It was gentle at first and then Holly was pulling Gail in, her kisses increasingly frantic until finally Gail drew back and regarded Holly with a worried look. Before she could speak, there was a knock on the door. When Gail opened it, she found Frankie standing there.

‘It’s not happening,’ she said, ‘you’re confined to the station.’

Gail nodded but said nothing, though she swore Holly’s sigh of relief was audible. In truth Gail was relieved that the decision had been taken out of her hands. She had promised Holly, in fact she had made a promise to herself that she would not be reckless and, despite Pearce’s assurances that she would be safe, she wasn’t altogether sure his wasn’t a foolhardy plan. 

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chloe and Gail were eating lunch in the break room when Officer Pedersen swaggered in. You could tell by the arrogant way he carried himself that he was the kind of guy who let the uniform go to his head. He started a little when he saw Gail.

‘Uh, Detective Peck, I thought you were off the case, you know on leave. I heard that guy tried to abduct you.’

‘Yeah, well latest intelligence says he’s gone into hiding. Can't take the heat. We think he’s gone over the border to the US, so I guess he’s their problem now,’ Gail said casually, giving a nonchalant shrug to reinforce the impression that the case had been dropped. 

‘So the investigation is done?’ Pedersen asked.

‘Maybe. The team’s out there chasing down leads but it’s probably a lost cause.’

Pedersen poured himself a coffee and nodded.

‘Uh, well catch you later. I need to make a phone call.’

Just as Pedersen was about to leave the room, Gail called out.

‘Hey Pedersen, none of that is official yet, so keep it to yourself.’

Pedersen nodded, although Chloe was certain she saw a flicker of excitement cross his face. Once he had gone, she turned and looked at Gail.

‘Smooth, Gail, very smooth.’

‘Like taking candy from a baby,’ Gail said with a smug smile.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

 

Gail and Chloe had been turning over the case for the last hour. Elaine had set them the task of reviewing the case files in the hope they might find something vital or even small that had been overlooked. Or that’s what Elaine said. Gail suspected her mother wanted to keep her out of trouble and at 15.

‘You heard what Pearce said. Trent follows a pattern so that second location has to be somewhere he can access again and again without being disturbed. It has to be somewhere no one else knows about, apart from Aaron,’ she said.

‘Pearce was out of line,’ Chloe said.

‘He was just doing his job,’ Gail replied, thinking it odd that it was Chloe rather than she who’d abruptly changed topic. Still Chloe was simply being protective and Gail realized that she liked that, knowing she had a friend willing to stand up for her.

‘I don’t like him.’

‘You don’t have to,’ Gail said reasonably, ‘but I think he knows his stuff. It has to do with patterns.’ 

All of sudden Gail spun around in her chair so she was facing Chloe and asked, ‘Have we interviewed the girl Trent is alleged to have raped at high school?’

‘Pastor Danny didn’t know her name and there is no record of the complaint. Trent was a minor at the time and the charges were dropped. Why? Is it important?’

‘What if Trent is taking the women to the same place he took that girl to rape her.’

‘Andy and I spoke to Pastor Danny. He couldn’t think of any places Trent and Aaron might use. ’

‘And he couldn’t recall the name of the girl involved. A scandal like that which engulfed his family, he’s bound to know her name. From memory it was a small school too. I think we need to pay the pastor another visit.’

‘Uh Gail, you’re not allowed to leave, remember,’ Chloe pointed out.

‘Yes Chloe I know. I’m going to ask my mother permission like a good little girl. Who’ve we got who could drive us there?’

‘Chris and Andy.’

Gail smiled. ‘We just need Traci and Nick and it would be like old times. Can you let Andy and Chris know we’ll leave in ten.’

Elaine was nowhere to be found and nor was Oliver, so Gail phoned Frankie who was interviewing Melanie’s parents.

‘There will be four of us. We’re all armed. We’re going straight to the church compound and then back to 15, no detours. You can meet us there.’

Frankie had rather reluctantly agreed.

‘Dov and I will finish here soon. Then we'll come straight over.’

Outside the door to Pastor Danny’s house, Gail paused to unbutton her shirt. She was wearing a scooped neck t-shirt beneath it and the marks on her neck where Trent had placed his hands, though yellowing, were still visible. 

Andy looked at Gail quizzically and asked her what she was doing, but Chloe nodded and said ‘good plan.’ 

After that Gail knocked on the door. Danny’s wife, Ellie, opened it. Her eyes darted to Gail’s neck and then away again and then back briefly and then away. Gail hazarded a guess she wasn’t normally this jittery. Soon they were being led into Danny’s study. 

Like Ellie, his gaze went immediately to Gail’s neck.

‘Trent did that to you,’ he said heavily and Gail saw genuine sorrow in his eyes, ‘I read about it in the paper.’

‘Yes and he’s taken another woman. If we’re to have any hope of finding her we need you to be completely candid with us. What was the name of the girl he raped in high school?’

‘I already told Detective Anderson, I don’t remember. It was a long time ago. I’m not even sure I knew who it was back then. My father dealt with it, well with Aaron’

‘Not an easy thing to forget,’ Gail said harshly, ‘it was less than 10 years ago.’

‘Pastor Danny, we realize that event bought shame on your family and you don’t want to relive it, but Trent has killed at least six women and if we don’t stop him there will be more,’ Chloe said gently.

‘You think Aaron’s involved?’

‘Yes,’ Chloe nodded, ‘we’re not sure how, but regardless we need to stop this now.’

Danny’s eyes went again to Gail’s neck.

‘Ellie. It was Ellie.’

‘Your wife?’ Gail couldn’t conceal her astonishment.

Danny nodded sadly.

‘She was my girlfriend then,’ he said indicating a framed photo on his desk. It showed a family grouping with an older man who was clearly Danny’s father standing next to a woman who was roughly the same age. Danny’s mother, Gail surmised. Danny was probably no more than 17 in the photo and he stood proudly with his arm around Ellie. Next to them were Aaron and a girl who Gail thought looked familiar.

‘Who’s that?’ she asked, pointing to the girl.

‘My sister Sarai. Her name is biblical. It means princess. My father was so excited to have a daughter he named her that. She has also left the church. She goes by the name Stacey now.’

Gail looked at Danny sharply. ‘She was there that day too wasn’t she?’

‘Yes,’ Danny said, his head bowed as if in disgrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This crime is close to being solved and I’m thinking that might be a good place to end this story. I still have more I want to write about Gail and Holly so either I’ll add a few more chapters post wrapping up the crime or I am toying with the idea of a sequel. I can’t quite believe this story is up to Chapter 21 and has run over 100,000 words, especially as when I posted the first chapter on the fanfic site I thought it might just be a one-shot. Anyway, thanks again for reading.


	22. Twenty-Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters…
> 
> Author’s note: Again sorry for taking a little longer than usual to update. It’s been hard to find time to write. 
> 
> As always thanks for the comments, kudos, for subscribing and for reading. I so appreciate hearing from you all of you so please leave a review if you feel inclined. Let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy this installment.
> 
> Just a warning – Ellie tells Gail what Trent did to her so there is mention of rape but it is not graphic. 
> 
> I proof this myself so the mistakes are mine (and sadly I’ve been short on time so I hope I have picked up the mistakes).

‘He invited me on a picnic. Sarai and Aaron were coming too. They said it was to apologize,’ Ellie explained, glancing down at her hands, which she kept twisting anxiously. 

She wouldn’t look directly at Gail and Chloe, although occasionally she’d steal glances at the bruises on Gail’s neck and then look away. They were seated in the kitchen. Chloe had bustled about making tea but Ellie had left her cup untouched. Gail could make out the sound of someone pacing and murmured voices coming from the corridor outside where Danny was waiting with Andy and Chris.

‘Apologize?’ Gail prodded gently. 

If Trent was repeating patterns, was it possible he took his victims to the same place he had taken Ellie? They needed to act quickly if they wanted to find Melanie Tovy alive, even if Trent said he was waiting for Gail before he began. Gail, however, could sense that Ellie couldn’t be rushed. Whatever Trent and the two siblings had done to her, ten years later it was still raw and she needed to tell the story at her own pace.

‘I tried to help them, Trent especially. Give him some guidance. I thought things could turn around for Trent if he followed the teachings of the church. He seemed to listen to me. He was actually very attentive and sweet around me, but now I realize it was just to aggravate Danny. Then the three of them posted some degrading things about me on Facebook. I didn’t have a Facebook account so I didn’t know until the calls began and people started coming up to me at school.’

‘Can you tell me what they posted?’

‘A photo of me with my phone number and a graphic list of the things I’d be willing to do with guys and girls.’

‘And then you agreed to the picnic?’ Gail asked, managing to keep the note of incredulity out of her voice.

‘They took the photo down the next day and came to my house asking for forgiveness. They said it was a silly prank that got out of hand. They wanted to do something nice as a way of apologizing and suggested a picnic in the woods. You probably think I was very stupid. I was stupid.’

‘No,’ Gail shook her head and said firmly, ‘There was no reason for you to suspect they would harm you.’

‘I was very naïve. My parents were extremely strict and I had a very sheltered upbringing. It made me very trusting.’ 

Ellie faltered for a moment. Her gaze was still fixed on her hands, which she continued to twist in her lap. Chloe wondered if she was always this diffident or whether that day in the woods had made her so. It seemed like this was the first time Ellie had spoken of it since it happened but something about Gail seemed to resonate with Ellie and she was opening up to her. So much so that Chloe thought it best she take a back seat, and let Gail ask the questions.

‘Back then I couldn’t imagine they would do such things to me. The three of them were like family or so I thought. Danny and I were serious about each other from the beginning and his parents treated me almost like a daughter.’ 

Abruptly Ellie looked up and directly at Gail, her eyes holding a plea for understanding, ‘I mean who does that to their brother’s girlfriend?’

Gail nodded understandingly and reached over and very gently stilled Ellie’s hands. The gesture was calming, but Chloe could see that Ellie was also reassured by it. 

This was a side of Gail most people didn’t see. Patient and empathetic as if there was no limit to her compassion or her resolve to make things better. Chloe suspected that this caring, this softer side, had always been there beneath Gail’s snark and her peevishness and her intolerance of the idiotic and the stupid. Just as Ellie had surely been changed by that day ten years ago, Chloe wondered if Gail’s experience with Perick leant extra weight to the solicitude with which she treated the woman who sat across from her.

‘And Danny didn’t go on the picnic with you?’ Gail asked.

‘No. Danny didn’t know about it. He and his father were away at the annual church synod in Vancouver. Danny was just in college then, but he knew already he wanted to follow his father into the church.’

‘Where was the picnic?’

‘Lambton Woods. Trent’s father had worked as a green keeper at the Lambton Golf Club. After his wife died, he would take Trent to work with him and Trent would spend the day exploring the woods.’

‘And did he take you to a disused building of some sort?’ Gail asked.

‘Yes. A cabin. It was basic. Just one room. It was very old and completely overgrown. I doubt anyone else even knew it existed.’

‘What happened when you got there?’

‘It was okay at first. The food was nice. They even laid the picnic out on a red-checkered tablecloth. The three of them fussed around me, insisting I do nothing to help. They’d made a fruit punch and they kept refilling my glass. I thought it was non-alcoholic but there must have been something in it because I began to feel woozy. I noticed Aaron and Sarai kept looking at each other furtively, but Trent was completely calm. I must have passed out because next thing I knew I came to and Trent was on top of me and,’ Ellie stopped and bit her lip so hard she drew blood.

‘He raped you?’ Gail asked softly.

‘Yes,’ Ellie replied, the word coming out slightly ragged, ‘I couldn’t do anything to stop it because my wrists and ankles were tied and he was choking me. I thought I was going to die.’

‘Could you see what Aaron and Sarai doing while this was happening?’

‘Aaron was laughing a high-pitched laugh. I don’t think I’ll ever get the sound out of my head. It was like he was partly embarrassed but then excited about what Trent was doing. Sarai just watched. When Trent finished with me, he had sex with Sarai. She had just turned 14. They forced me to watch. Aaron would hit me if I looked away.’

‘Do you remember what happened after that?’

‘I think I passed out. When I came to I was in the woods. They must have dumped me there. I was naked but they’d left my clothes, most of which were torn. I stumbled out onto the highway and flagged down a passing car and they took me home.’

‘Is that when you reported it to the police?’ 

‘No. You have to understand my parents were very religious and very conservative. My father thought I’d brought shame onto the family. He blamed me. My mother thought differently. After four days we filed a complaint with the police. Then Danny’s father, Pastor Jakob, showed up. He was a very powerful figure in the church and my parents looked up to him. He said if this got out it could destroy the church. He persuaded them he would handle it, so they agreed to withdraw the complaint. My father forbad me to speak of it again.’ 

‘I’m sorry we have to keep asking you about that night, but can you remember where the cabin was?’

‘Is that where he’s taking these girls?’

‘I think it’s a strong possibility,’ Gail nodded.

‘It was near the river. I wasn’t paying that much attention when we drove there. But we parked on a side road and walked for about fifteen minutes to the cabin. I saw the street sign on the side road– it was called Mill Road. Later I remember thinking it was such an bland name for a road that led me to such,’ Ellie paused and said in almost a whisper, ‘to such horror.’

‘Ellie, I know how hard this has been for you, but what you’ve said is really helpful. Thank you,’ Gail said.

‘I should have spoken up then,’ Ellie continued as if she hadn’t heard Gail, ‘I should never have withdrawn the complaint then none of this would have happened and those girls would still be alive.’

‘There is no guarantee of that. Trent and Aaron and Sarai were minors. If they’d been found guilty they may have served a few years in juvy. It’s unlikely that would have stopped Trent from going on to this.’

‘And I should never have agreed to go on the picnic. My father was right.’

‘Ellie none of this is your fault. You are not to blame for Trent’s actions or the behavior of the other two. I understand you and Danny work with the victims of domestic abuse.’

Ellie nodded.

‘I’m sure you tell them the same thing. They don’t ask to be abused.’

Ellie nodded again.

‘You didn’t either. You are not responsible for what happened to you or these other women. I’m guessing you haven’t spoken about this to anyone since this happened?’

Again Ellie nodded in conformation. ‘Even Danny said it was best not to talk about it. To put it behind us and move on.’

Jesus, thought Gail, no wonder Ellie seemed so withdrawn. What kind of damage did that do to a person’s psyche? How could Ellie move on when she had been made to feel shame for what had happened?

‘Here is the number of the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre,’ Gail said, handing a card to Ellie, ‘they offer free confidential counseling.’

Ellie made a sound that was almost a laugh but which carried no mirth. ‘I’ve referred women there,’ she said, ‘I know the center well.’

‘Okay, if you’d rather not go there, I can recommend some counselors. Here’s my card. Call me even if you just need to talk.’

Ellie took the card and studied it for a moment before looking up at Gail. She took a deep breath and said softly ‘Thank you’. 

Gail stood and Chloe followed suite. 

‘We need to go now, but I meant it, call me anytime you need to talk.’ 

Ellie dipped her head in acquiescence. She wasn’t a small woman but somehow she looked diminished. She lent forward with her elbows on the table and the lower part of her face resting in her hands so her mouth was obscured. Anguished, she looks anguished thought Chloe.

Just as they were about to leave the room, Gail turned back.

‘Would you say that before that day you mothered Trent?’

‘Yes, he’d joke about it sometimes. That I was born to be nurturing, which he said was lucky for him because his step-mother didn’t have a maternal bone in her body.’

Out in the corridor, Danny stopped his pacing as Gail and Chloe emerged from the kitchen. Gail paused in front of him.

‘You need to go to her. You need to be understanding. You need to support her.’

Danny nodded, his face solemn.‘ My father told me it was best we not speak of it. I should never have listened to him,’ Danny said sadly, ‘Detective, my father is a good man but he had a blind spot about Aaron and Saria. He never touched me, but he beat Aaron and Sarai. They didn’t find it easy to follow the Church. He said they had the devil in them and he needed to beat it out.’

‘How often did it happen?’

‘At least once a week,’ Danny said heavily.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

In the Morgue, Elaine observed as Holly walked Agent Pearce through each of the autopsies. He had insisted Holly show him the bodies and be as detailed as possible in describing what each woman had been subjected to. When he saw the message scrawled across Patricia Weston’s body, he turned to Holly and said ‘that must have been disturbing’. His tone was understated as if he were commenting on something quite ordinary.

Holly nodded. She wished she were back at the station with Gail. It was stupid and impractical, but Holly felt if she could keep Gail in sight, better still within arm’s reach, then Gail would be safe. 

When Frankie had knocked on the door to the interrogation room and told them Gail was staying put, the relief Holly felt was immeasurable. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if Elaine had agreed to Pearce’s plan to use Gail to draw out Trent. However, when Frankie then said Andy and Chris would give her a ride to the Morgue, Holly had almost refused to leave. Gail must have sensed something was amiss because she asked Frankie for a minute and practically closed the door to the interrogation room in the detective’s face.

Gail had reached out a hand to gently cup Holly’s cheek and looked at her levelly.

‘It’s okay. Trent is not going to walk into a police station to come after me. I’m safe here at 15. I’ll be chained to my desk anyway. Nothing is going to happen to me. I may fall into a stupor of boredom or make myself sick from eating too many donuts but that’s it.’

Holly smiled weakly. ‘Gail, I know a bomb went off in 15 two years ago.’ 

‘Trent’s not a mad bomber, so I think we’re okay on that count,’ Gail said, smiling wryly at the realization that of course she should have anticipated of course Holly would have heard about the bombing. ‘Anyway we’re going to get these bastards soon.’

‘I know,’ Holly pursed her lips and tried to stop herself from frowning, ‘and I know Trent would have to get through a lot of people before he got to you but still I worry. Maybe you shouldn’t stay here. Maybe we should be in hiding. I don’t have to go into work. Dr Carral would understand and perhaps we should just go away until Trent and the other two are caught. I mean I know this is your job but’

Quite suddenly Gail had leant in and kissed Holly. Lightly at first so it was like a whisper, a gentle brush that silenced Holly immediately. Gail drew back and looked at Holly before she again leant in and repeated the action. It was slow and deliberate and Holly was overtaken by the sensuality of it, the sheer irresistibility of feeling Gail’s lips against her own blanketing out her fears. A rational voice somewhere in the back of Holly’s mind told her that it was for exactly this reason, to distract her in moments of crisis, that Gail did this. 

That thought was soon forgotten as Gail brought up her other hand so she was cupping both sides of Holly’s face and she pulled Holly towards her. This time she intensified the kiss. It was somehow tender and forceful all at once. A kiss that shut out the interrogation room and beyond it the rest of the station and past that the outside world and people like Trent who would do them harm. In that moment their existence became simply this, the two of them, here and now. 

It was a kiss to reassure and it was a kiss that carried everything Gail felt for Holly; love and hope and wonder, a little reverence and finally a wistfulness that even now, some hours later, seemed to linger on Holly’s lips. This last thing had puzzled Holly. Why the wistfulness? Surely it couldn’t be regret? Surely there was nothing about their relationship to cause Gail to be melancholy. Then Gail said ‘Until you, I never had a reason to come back,’ and Holly understood. 

Every time Gail felt like something good was happening in her life, that it was taking a positive turn, it was taken away. Holly left for San Francisco, another family adopted Sophie, Steve went to prison and Gail’s parents shut her out. So a part of Gail couldn’t help but anticipate that the universe would conspire to deny her Holly. It wouldn’t be Holly’s doing. Gail knew that and she had made it very clear she had no plans to sabotage the relationship this time round, in fact quite the opposite. So the thing that could conspire against them had to be some outside force. In that moment Holly realized that thing, that outside force, was exactly what she feared, that every time Gail went to work there was a risk she would never return. The wistfulness then came from a yearning in Gail to be allowed this love, this life with Holly, and underlying it was indeed regret that there were no guarantees. 

She wondered if Gail would always kiss her like that when she went on shift as if it were for the last time. It was like a love note written by someone conscious this could be their final chance to communicate their feelings, who knew there was no absolute assurance of returning; a declaration so precious had it been a note it would have been secreted away in a treasure box or some other private niche for the eyes only of the person to whom it was addressed. Having fallen in love with a police officer was this then her lot, Holly thought, to always worry that each time Gail kissed her goodbye it was for the last time. 

Holly knew the statistics. Most police officers died of old age after a long career in the force. Yet every time Gail went to work, every time she kissed Holly like that, leaving an indelible trace of love, the weight and substance of this sentiment so great it was like a tangible object suspended between them, every time that happened Holly knew she would worry in case it was all of Gail she would be left with. Holly shook her head as if to clear it. No, she had to trust Gail not to put herself in harm’s way. She had to believe Gail would always come back to her. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Frankie reluctantly agreed to meet them at Mill Road. She had told Gail to return to the station, but Gail persuaded her that if there was any chance of saving Melanie Tovey they had to act now.

‘If Trent’s there and he has Melanie we need to move in quietly so as not to alert him. We can’t have the whole of 15 descending on Lambton Woods. Get Kennedy and one of the other Detectives to meet us there as well. Then with you and Dov that will make eight of us.’

‘Okay, that makes sense,’ Frankie said, ‘but I’m going to have to inform the Superintendent.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail said grimly, knowing her mother would not be the least bit impressed that she had sprung herself from the station

It was a twenty-minute drive to Lambton Woods from the church. Gail wished they were in an unmarked car and Andy and Chris weren’t in uniform but it was too late now. If Trent caught sight of them there was no knowing what he might do to Melanie, if she was still alive. It was nearly five when they set off for the woods so at least the light had begun to fade as dusk settled in. It would make it harder for them to find the cabin, but on the plus side less likely that Trent would spy them.

As they left the church, Chloe had turned to Gail. ‘How did you know Sarai or Stacey was there that day?’

‘Patterns. Trent always has two victims. One watches.’

‘But it sounds like Stacy willingly participated’

‘As much as a fourteen year old can consent, and probably a very angry, mixed up fourteen year old too. Trent had some sort of hold on her, so it was still about exerting power for him.’

‘And I guess the beatings gave her and Aaron a reason to rebel against their father and follow Trent.’

Gail nodded. ‘It’s plausible.’

‘But Stacey and Ellie don’t look like the recent victims. Stacey has dark hair.’

‘Ellie is blonde, but it could be a refinement. Maybe Trent started taking victims who look like his stepmother after she died. It would fit with what the profiler told us. And remember what Ellie told us. He saw her as a mother figure. Maybe that was enough to make her a victim.’

When they pulled off onto Mill Road, Gail told Andy to cut the headlights. The word road was a misnomer. It was more like a track that snaked through thick woodland on either side and which was barely wide enough for one car. The road wasn’t sealed and in place of asphalt was loose gravel. Gail cursed the sound the car tires were making as they crunched over it. As they rounded a bend, Chris spotted a white van parked to one side and partly obscured by undergrowth.

Getting out to investigate, Gail saw two sets of headlights weaving along the road towards then. Frankie she guessed. Still she automatically reached down and rested her hand on the gun attached by a holster to her belt. Andy, Chris and Chloe also assumed an alert stance and the four of them moved so the squad car was between them and the approaching vehicles. 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘You’re work is very impressive, Dr Stewart. Quantico needs bright, committed people like you. Have you considered joining the team there?’ Agent Pearce said.

Holly smiled, ‘I’ve just returned from the States. I don’t have any plans to go back.’ 

Elaine had stepped out into the corridor to speak to Dr Carral, otherwise Holly didn’t think Pearce would have been so bold as to start throwing around job offers.

‘Because of Detective Peck?’

‘Uh, yeah,’ Holly said surprised, ‘how did you know that?’

‘Classic body tells,’ Pearce said, ‘in the Incident room you were sitting so you were facing Detective Peck, with your feet pointed in her direction, even your head was titled towards her. When you say her name the corners of your eyes crinkle just slightly which indicates she makes you happy. It’s also impossible to miss the way you look at her. Then there was your reaction when I suggested Detective Peck be used to lure Trent out of hiding.’

‘Oh,’ Holly said, ‘was I that obvious?’

‘A little. So I guess that means you’re staying here.’

As Pearce finished speaking, Elaine re-entered the room.

‘There is no point trying to entice Dr Stewart away from Toronto, Agent Pearce. She is quite happy here,’ Elaine said with finality.

Holly raised her eyebrows slightly. ‘Which is exactly what I was telling Agent Pearce.’ 

She wondered what Pearce was making of her body language now. Her irritation with Elaine was probably clear enough that he might think he did have a chance of convincing her to consider a career at Quantico.

Elaine started to nod but then her phone rang. She turned slightly away to answer it, speaking quietly at first but then Holly heard her say, ‘No, Detective Anderson you should wait for back up. I don’t want my, um Detective Peck, involved. Tell her not to proceed and to return to the station immediately. That’s an order. I’m on my way now.’

‘What’s happening? Where’s Gail?’ Holly asked.

‘Gail thinks she’s found Trent’s hideaway and she’s on her way there.'

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

When Frankie and Dov came into view, followed by Matt and Garcia, Gail and the other three officers relaxed their stance. Gail wished Frankie had also thought to cut their headlights. With nothing but forest for miles all around them, the car lights shone like a beacon. God, she hoped Trent didn’t know they were coming for him.

As Frankie got out of the car, she said, ‘Gail, the Superintendent wants you back at the station. It’s an order.’

‘It’s too late for me to go back. Trent could have seen the headlights. We need to move in now. We can’t afford to wait for backup. There are eight of us. I think we’ve got Trent outnumbered so let’s not waste any more time.’

Frankie sighed heavily.

‘I’ll deal with my mother,’ Gail said, ‘you won’t take the blame for this.’

Frankie considered for a moment. ‘You won’t go back unless I force you will you.’

Gail nodded.

‘Geez I don’t know why I’m agreeing to this. But okay. Dov took a look at Google Earth and identified two places where the cabin might be.’

‘Both of them are not far from here,’ Dov indicated to his iPad and pointed to two spots where the tree canopy was interrupted by a darker smudge that could be a cabin roof.

‘So I think we should fan out in a line across the area between these two spots but stay in twos. Only use the radios if absolutely necessary. Gail, you don’t have a radio?’ Frankie said.

Gail shook her head.

‘Okay you’re with Chloe then, the rest of us with our partners. I’d guess we have about a fifteen-minute start. Then your mother will be here with the cavalry.’

‘Gail,’ Matt said, retrieving something from the backseat of his car and tossing it to Gail, ‘here’s your vest.’

‘Thanks,’ Gail said, catching it. As she pulled the vest over her head, she muttered, ‘let’s hope I don’t need it.’

Gail and Chloe had been walking for about ten minutes when they reached a small clearing. It was very much like the one in Gail’s dream where Perick had strode up to her and, pointing to a shallow grave beneath some trees, said he intended to bury her there. Gail stopped and looked around a little wildly, half-believing she might see some freshly dug earth.

‘What is it, have you seen something?’ Chloe asked.

‘I don’t know. I can’t explain it but I think we’re close.’

‘Okay,’ Chloe nodded, ‘should I get Frankie and the others over here.’

‘Not yet. It’s just a hunch.’ Gail shook her head. 

What had Perick told her in the dream? To go back to the bar and find a companion. Then he would kill her. Was it a fluke her subconscious had picked up on that? Had the dream forecast this, that in the end it would come to a showdown between her and the killer, and the only thing keeping she and Melanie alive was the fact that Trent wanted them together before he killed them. She’d had the dream before she’d gone undercover at the FindLove event or even encountered Trent. Had her experience with Perick made her weirdly attuned to the depravity of serial killers? It was this thought and the strange familiarity of her surroundings, even though she knew she’d never been to these woods before, that all at once made Gail feel discombobulated. She stood completely still and took a deep breath to shake the feeling. After a moment, she realized Chloe was looking at her with concern.

‘This way,’ Gail said decisively. 

She pointed across the clearing to a dense thicket, beyond which was a copse of white birch trees and behind which rose huge oaks. It would have been picturesque if Gail hadn’t been so terrified about what they about to walk into. 

They heard the screaming just as they reached the thicket. It rang out in the silent forest. Loud and desperate and agonized. Gail and Chloe could tell from the pitch and volume that it came from somebody who was in excruciating pain. Without hesitating they plunged into the thick undergrowth and scrambled in the direction of the screaming, heedless of the twigs and brambles that scrapped against any exposed skin. As they cleared the thicket the cabin came into view, nestled beneath the birch trees. 

‘Radio Frankie. Then wait for her here,’ Gail said, unholstering her gun. ‘I’m going in.’

‘We should both wait for Frankie and the others,’ Chloe almost pleaded.

Before Gail could reply, a scream so loud and so plaintive it literally sent chills down her spine, came from the cabin. In the distance she could hear the wail of police sirens. Her mother with back up.

‘No time,’ she said, taking off at a run towards the cabin. The screaming had stopped, although Gail was sure she could hear someone whimpering. When she got to the door she wondered if she’d need to kick it down, but saw that it was slightly ajar so nudged it open with her boot, her arms extended in front of her with her gun gripped firmly in both hands.

‘Police don’t move,’ Gail yelled.

Trent looked up. He was standing at the head of a table where Melanie Tovey was strapped down by the wrists and ankles. She was naked and her torso was covered in little rivulets of blood. With horror, Gail realized the reason for the bleeding. Trent had done away with using a black marker to write his message. No, he’d used a knife to carve out words across Melanie’s stomach.

‘Ah, Detective Peck, so good of you to join us,’ Trent said coolly, ‘we’ve been waiting so long for you. Melanie had started to despair but I never doubted you would come to me.’ With that he picked up a gun and pointed it at Gail.


	23. Twenty-three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters…..
> 
> So I got this chapter finished a little sooner (in fact a whole week earlier than usual) so you didn’t have to wait too long to find out what’s going to happen to Gail in the woods. 
> 
> Thank you, thank you to all who read and comment and subscribe and leave kudos. It means so much to hear from you and to be encouraged to keep writing. As always, let me know what you think.

When Gail heard Melanie scream the second time, instinct took over and she immediately took off for the cabin. Had the scene that confronted her when she burst into the cabin not thrown her off momentarily, Gail might have cursed her stupidity for blundering in without backup. What if Aaron and Stacey had been there too? 

She tried not to be distracted by Melanie and the wretched sobs coming from her. She tried to block out the blood streaking across Melanie’s torso and spreading ever wider, like rivers whose tributaries had found each other and had started to merge into a greater mass. Most of all Gail tried not to see herself strapped to a table and she tried not to think about how small and powerless that had made her feel and how in that basement, blindfolded and alone, she was certain she was going to die. 

It only took an instant for Gail to shut out these images and focus on Trent but that instant was enough for Trent to reach for the gun. In that instant Gail lost the advantage the element of surprise had given her when she nudged the cabin door open.

As soon as Gail saw Trent raise the weapon she stopped advancing into the cabin. She immediately assumed the classic police stance; her feet shoulder width apart, legs straight, her arms extended and her elbows turned outwards and slightly bent. She had one hand on the gun grip and ready to pull the trigger, the other cupped around the front of the gun to steady it, and she pointed it squarely at Trent.

‘It seems we’re at an impasse,’ Trent said, his voice remaining unnaturally calm and his gun pointed at Gail’s head.

Gail’s hands started to shake very slightly and she tried to still them. She hoped Trent hadn’t noticed. He’d be looking for any sign of vulnerability. She knew she should speak but she didn’t trust her voice. Trent’s expression as he regarded her was exultant, gloating and Gail felt the bile rise in her throat. 

Gail knew she could take the shot and legitimately say it was with just cause, but if she pulled the trigger he would too. He had the gun pointed at her head so her vest wasn’t much use. What if he survived, and not only killed her but Melanie too, and then slipped off into the night before the others could stop him. Then all of this would have been for nothing.

Gail heard rather than saw Chloe come in behind her. Thank god she’d followed and not waited for Frankie. She just hoped Frankie and the others would find their way to the cabin. Trent’s eyes flicked momentarily to Chloe and then back to Gail. 

‘You didn’t think I’d come after you without back-up,’ Gail said, finally finding her voice.

In that moment she might have been able to take the shot, but she could still feel the tremor in her hands and she wasn’t confident of her aim. Part of her wanted to blow this bastard away but she knew that wasn’t her call. She was a police officer not a judge. It wasn’t her place to decide his fate. Killing someone, even somebody as depraved and reprehensible as Trent, was not something done lightly. If Trent died at Gail’s hand, she would be forever bound to him. She didn’t want that. It was enough that Perick stalked her dreams.

‘Put the gun down. Then put your hands in the air. Now,’ Chloe said, her voice even and carrying an authority Gail had struggled to find as she faced off against Trent.

Trent gave no indication he had heard Chloe. He kept the gun pointed at Gail, but his smug expression had started to falter. Melanie had stopped sobbing and Gail wondered if she’d passed out.

‘Don’t give me an excuse to shoot you,’ Gail said, her voice so harsh and cold it left Chloe in no doubt she would carry out the threat. ‘Put the gun down now, or I will shoot.’ 

Gail raised her gun slightly higher as if readying to take aim, her hands now completely steady. She heard sounds behind her but didn’t take her eyes off Trent. Again she sensed rather than saw that it was Frankie and the others.

‘You heard the Detective, put the gun down now, Trent,’ came Frankie’s voice, loud and forceful, ‘and then back away from the table, with your hands in the air.’

‘If you fire that gun, you’re a dead man, Trent,’ Gail said, her voice quiet but the menace in it hard to miss.

Trent looked from Gail to Chloe and beyond to the small doorway where Frankie and the other five were massed phalanx like behind them. Finally he placed the gun on the table next to Melanie’s head and stepped back, his hands in the air as instructed.

Immediately Matt and Garcia were in the room and cuffing him, and Gail was at Melanie’s side. She could see Melanie was barely conscious and quickly felt her pulse. Amazingly it was still fairly strong. She needed something to cut the restraints and her eyes landed on the bloodied knife Trent had been using to carve his message into Melanie’s flesh. Gail shuddered. Forensics would need it so she couldn’t use it anyway.

She heard Frankie calling an ambulance and then Matt and Garcia hustled Trent roughly out of the cabin. As they passed Melanie and Gail, Trent started to speak. Dov, who was normally even-tempered in these situations, silenced him.

‘Don’t say a fucking word,’ he growled in Trent’s ear, tightening his hold on the cuffs so they cut into Trent’s wrists.

Despite the blood, the cuts to Melanie’s stomach weren’t nearly as deep as Gail had at first feared. Still she looked around for something to staunch the wounds. All she could she was a dirty towel scrunched up in the corner of the room. It wouldn’t do. The risk of infection was too great with open wounds.

Melanie’s eyes fluttered open and she looked imploringly at Gail.

‘Can you get me out of here,’ she said in a hoarse whisper, ‘please.’

‘It’s okay Melanie, we’ll get you out of here soon, but it’s probably best if you lie still until the paramedics get here,’ Gail said gently, putting a hand on Melanie’s arm to reassure her. She shrugged off her jacket and draped it across Melanie. ‘Has anyone got something to cut these ties,’ Gail then asked and knew she sounded impatient.

‘Here,’ Andy said, unclipping a Leatherman tool from her utility belt and handing it to Gail. It wasn’t standard issue for patrol officers. Of course Girl Scout McNally would always be prepared, Gail couldn’t help thinking, but not with annoyance and she took the utility tool with gratitude. Chloe bunched up her jacket and placed it beneath Melanie’s head.

After that it all moved very quickly. The paramedics were there within ten minutes of Frankie's call. The Superintendent had the foresight and rank necessary to put an ambulance on standby. They were waiting on Mill Road when Elaine and several squad cars pulled up and had already started the trek to the cabin when Frankie put the call through. 

Gail watched as Melanie was moved to a stretcher and carried out the door and back across the clearing. Then she sat down on a large log that had been placed in front of the cabin. She felt utterly exhausted. The adrenalin rush that had kicked in when she heard the screaming and took off for the cabin had worn off.

Gail wondered if this was bad for her body, these extremes of hyper vigilance followed by complete enervation. Holly would be able to tell her. Holly. She wasn't going to be happy, Gail knew that and couldn't blame her. Well, at least she hadn't been shot at. Still, there would be mandatory sessions with the police shrink before she was allowed back on active duty.

Suddenly Frankie was standing in front of her.

'You okay Peck?' she said, somewhat awkwardly placing a hand on Gail's shoulder before quickly removing it.

'Yeah, I just need a minute.'

Frankie nodded. 'There's no sign of Aaron and Stacey and Trent's not talking.'

'So it's not over,' Gail sighed.

'Not yet, but soon. Trent's the mastermind. They're both followers and without Trent around it will be easy to find them.'

Gail was about to reply when she caught sight of her mother coming through the thicket followed by Agent Pearce and then Holly and Rodney. The two pathologists were carrying their lunch boxes. Alright, alright, Gail thought, forensic kits. Holly's expression was hard to read and Gail was so busy trying to work out what her girlfriend was thinking that she didn't notice Elaine come to a stop in front of her. The Superintendent's back was ramrod straight and her mouth drawn in a tight line.

'Give me one reason you shouldn't be put up on disciplinary charges, Detective. You disobeyed a direct order.'

Gail sighed wearily.

'Circumstances changed,' Frankie said, 'after I spoke to you we had to quickly reassess the situation and decided we needed to act immediately. I required every available officer. I didn't have time to clear it with you Superintendent but I gave the order for Detective Peck to join the search.'

'I didn't give her a choice,’ Gail said flatly and before Elaine could respond. 

'Do you believe that puts either of your actions in a better light?'

As Elaine finished speaking, Holly step forward so she was standing alongside her. Now Gail knew exactly how to describe Holly's expression. It was murderous, but her rage was not directed at Gail. Far from it. No it was Elaine who found herself withering a little under Holly's gaze.

‘It seems the decision to reevaluate and to proceed accordingly resulted in the apprehension of the perpetrator and the rescue of his victim.’ 

It was Agent Pearce who spoke and Holly looked at him gratefully. She didn’t understand Elaine’s behavior. In the Morgue after Frankie called, although she had tried to mask it, Elaine was clearly worried about Gail. Holly wasn’t an expert in reading body tells, not like Pearce, but even she could see that. It was clear in the Superintendent’s wan complexion, from the grim set of her mouth and the belligerent jut of her jaw. It was obvious in the way she barked out orders in rapid succession and in her white knuckled grip on the steering wheel during the car ride over. 

Yet on finding her daughter safe all Elaine could do was threaten to put her on a charge. To Holly’s annoyance, Gail sometimes described herself as emotionally stunted but she had nothing on Elaine. How could a mother be so distant, so removed? 

Elaine looked at Pearce sharply. ‘Yes, Agent Pearce. A successful outcome. Sometimes circumstances call for a recalibration. You did well Detective Anderson,’ Elaine said, her voice taut. 

What the actual fuck was all Holly could think and wished she were bold enough to say. Hadn’t Gail led them to this hideout? Without her they wouldn’t now have Trent in custody and Melanie may well be dead and not on her way to the hospital. Yet Holly sensed if she spoke up, Elaine might change her mind about letting Frankie and Gail off the hook. 

Frankie must have felt the same way, because she went to speak and then thought better of it. Holly realized Gail hadn’t been kidding when she described Elaine as domineering and controlling and entirely soulless. She had a raft of nicknames for her mother - ‘the tyrant’ and ‘Herr Commandant’ were Gail’s favorites. Holly had thought Gail was exaggerating, but now she wasn’t so sure. Still she decided the best course of action was to get on with her job and ignore Elaine for now.

‘Dr Carlowski and I need to process the scene. Who was the first officer to enter the cabin.’ Holly said.

‘That would be me,’ Gail said. She stood and in so doing was face to face with Holly, with only a few inches separating them.

‘You had to go in first,’ Holly said quietly. There was nothing accusatory about her words rather they were a statement of fact.

‘I had no choice. Melanie was screaming.’

‘Oh, Gail,’ Holly said and could not stop herself from reaching out to take Gail’s hand, running her thumb lightly over her palm. She didn’t care who saw. She didn’t care that they were at work or that Elaine was standing right next to her, observing them. What horror had Gail walked in on when she went into the cabin? How much of it would have reminded her of her own ordeal in the basement. How was it that Gail was standing here so stoically, sagging a little, yes Holly could see that, but stoic nonetheless. 

‘I’m sorry,’ Holly said, leaning into Gail so the words were almost whispered into Gail’s ear. 

She was sorry that Gail had to be first on the scene. Sorry she had to witness Trent’s depravity. To see first hand the cruelty he inflicted upon his victims. Sorry too because whatever Gail had seen in that cabin Holly was going to ask her to relive it, to walk her through what she saw and what she touched. 

‘I’ll need to talk to every one of the officers who went into the cabin.’ Holly said, letting go of Gail’s hand and turning to Frankie. ‘No one else should go into the cabin until we’ve had a chance to process the crime scene.’

‘Multiple crime scenes,’ Frankie said, ‘it’s likely all the women were killed here before they were dumped.’

Holly nodded. It was going to be a long night.

 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It was nearly an hour later when Gail slipped into the observation side of the interrogation room. Frankie, Dov and Pearce were in the booth and Frankie raised her eyebrows slightly at Gail’s arrival. Trent was sitting on the other side of the glass, shackled to the table. Sitting opposite him where Elaine and Matt. 

‘He clearly hates women,’ Elaine had said to Frankie to explain why she hadn’t asked her to sit it on the interview. ‘I’ll take Detective Kennedy. He’s a man’s man. Trent might respond better to him.’

‘Mr Savage,’ Elaine was now saying, ‘you won’t gain anything by stalling. Where are Aaron and Stacey?’

Trent’s expression was sly and, until he spoke, Gail didn’t understand why.

‘I will only speak to your daughter, Superintendent.’

‘That is not going to happen Mr Savage.’

Trent looked up and directly at the one-way window that separated the interrogation room from the observation booth where Gail now stood. 

‘I bet she’s watching,’ Trent said, a smugness creeping into his tone, ‘Does she like watching? I was going to let her watch as I took care of Melanie. Then she would have known exactly what was going to happen to her.’

While he spoke, Trent’s gaze remained fixed on the window and Gail found herself blinking rapidly. It was as if he was in the room with her rather than separated by a sheet of glass.

‘Detective Peck’s involvement in this investigation has ceased. So I’ll ask you again where are Aaron and Stacey?’

‘Ceased,’ Trent laughed contemptuously, ‘so now you decide to protect her. Too little, too late don’t you think Superintendent.’

‘I’ll ask you again. Where are Aaron and Stacey?’

‘You know Superintendent you’re a lot like Monique, my stepmother. She was cold and controlling too. She cared more about appearances than me. I was only paraded out to make her look good. Sound familiar?’

‘This is not about me, Trent,’ Elaine said stiffly.

Gail noticed her mother had shifted from addressing Trent formally as Mr Savage. Using his first name humanized him. It might work if you were trying to get a perp onside, butter them up, but that wasn’t Elaine’s intention. Trent’s needling seemed to have thrown Elaine off and the slip up indicated he now had the upper hand in the interview. 

In the booth Pearce shifted slightly. ’He’s exploiting her vulnerabilities. Psychopaths are very good at zeroing in on people’s weaknesses and using them to get their own way.’

Gail nodded. Her mother had a reputation for making the most hardened criminals crack under interrogation, and it was surprising she was allowing Trent to manipulate her in this way. Gail couldn’t see Elaine’s expression but it was clear she was flustered.

‘Do you think Detective Kennedy and I are going to sit here and listen to you indulge in self-pity. Nobody cares, Trent.’

‘But you do Elaine. You recognize yourself don’t you? And your beautiful daughter. She was like a trophy wasn’t she. But you didn’t cherish Gail. No you bullied and browbeat her. You made her feel unloved. I can tell.’

Elaine had half-risen out of her seat.

‘You don’t know what you are talking about Savage,’ she said angrily.

‘Oh but I do. I read Martha Fisher’s coverage in the Toronto Star. Gail was the police officer taken by Perick,’ Trent looked at Elaine, his face so full of guile that watching from the other side of the glass Frankie had to stifle the urge to go in and throttle him. ‘You made Gail who she is. So is it your fault that not one but two of us went after her? Are you to blame? Did you make her a serial killer’s pin-up girl.’

With that Elaine was out of chair. Gail couldn’t see her face but she guessed it was thunderous. Even from behind you could tell her body was rigid with anger.  
Matt also stood and was saying ‘Superintendent let’s take a break,’ and Elaine was shaking her head no, and you could sense she was fighting desperately to keep her rage in check. Trent was smirking.

‘Get her out of there, Frankie,’ Gail said, ‘now.’

Frankie and Dov leapt out of their chairs and hurried out the door. Gail turned to Pearce.

‘I’m going to talk to him.’

‘I guessed as much,’ Pearce said.

‘Well, I can’t do any worse than my mother.’

Trent looked up keenly when Gail entered the interrogation room.

‘I knew you were watching. I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist,’ he said, licking his lips with the tip of his tongue.

‘Yeah, well I had a bit of time to kill before heading off shift,’ Gail replied, sounding utterly disinterested, ‘but now I’m bored and want to go home. So I’m guessing you don’t actually know where Aaron and Stacey are.’

‘We’re the same Gail. You and me. They made us this way. Your mother and my stepmother. They created us.’

‘Really Trent, I’m even less interested in listening to your pity party banter than my mother was. Frankly I’d be more entertained watching paint dry.’

On the other side of the glass, Dov spoke up. ‘The Ice Queen returns,’ he said, his tone a strange mix of admiration and disdain, ‘nobody does cold and heartless better than Gail.’

Elaine looked at him sharply, eyes narrowed. In the commotion that ensured when Frankie extracted her from the interrogation, Elaine hadn’t seen Gail slip into the room. Once she realized what had happened, the Superintendent was quite prepared to go back and haul her daughter out, but Pearce persuaded her to give Gail a chance. 

‘He believes he has a connection with Gail. If he’s going to talk it’s more likely he’ll open up to Gail,’ Pearce said.

So now Elaine was standing next to Frankie in the observation booth. Her posture was that of someone on high alert, watchful, ready to act at any moment. Frankie could see what Gail was doing. She was goading Trent in exactly the same way as Trent had goaded Elaine but with one crucial difference. Where Trent couldn’t disguise his glee at provoking the Superintendent, Gail had affected a cool indifference. It might just be enough to get a narcissist like Trent, who craved attention, to talk. 

‘We’re kindred spirits, you and me,’ Trent was now telling Gail, but Frankie noted that his voice has lost some of it’s earlier swagger.

Gail’s laugh was scathing. ‘Kindred spirits. If we’re the same Trent how come I’m a police detective and you kill people. Poor you, your stepmother was controlling and didn’t love you. Do you think you’re the only person to be pushed away by a parent? I’m a police officer so I’ve come across countless people who’ve been mistreated by family but they don’t go round killing people. So hey, good luck using that as an defense.’ Gail started to stand.

‘Where are you going?’ Trent asked, sounding rattled.

‘I told you. My shift’s over. I’m heading out. I’ll probably drink a beer or two to celebrate a successful day.’

‘Don’t you want to know where Aaron and Stacey are?’

‘Clearly you have no idea,’ Gail shrugged.

‘I’ll tell you, but you need to give me something.’

‘Not how it works, Trent.’ Gail stood completely now. ‘You thought you controlled them didn’t you. That they were doing your bidding, but who’s the sucker now?’ 

She paused for a moment. Trent was shifting in his chair, as much as the cuffs would allow, clearly agitated. Good, thought Gail, I’m getting to him. 

‘You know I thought you were the smart one, but I got that wrong. You’re here cuffed to a table and Aaron and Stacey are free,’ she shrugged again, ‘but fine let them get away with it. We don’t care. We’ve got you. You ‘re the mastermind behind this. Right now forensics is finding a truckload of evidence in the cabin to link you to these murders and Melanie is going to make a very compelling witness on the stand, don’t you agree? So case solved. A good day’s work. I think I deserve those beers.’ Without looking at Trent, Gail walked over to the door and opened it.

‘There’s a room in the church. It’s in the basement. Pastor Jakob would take Aaron and Stacey there to beat them. Danny never uses it. He keeps it locked but Stacey has a key. We agreed to meet there if the police got too close,’ Trent spoke hurriedly, ‘we’d hide there until we worked out what to do.’

Gail nodded. ‘Too much hubris, Trent. We’ve been close for a long time. You left your run too late.’

‘You could have taken the shot Gail, back in the cabin. Why didn’t you kill me when you had the chance?’ Trent said, some of his cockiness returning.

Gail waited a beat before answering. ‘Three reasons. One, too much paperwork. Two, I wouldn’t get the satisfaction of seeing you rot in jail and three, I don’t go around killing people and that is just one of the many things that makes me very different to you.’

As Gail closed the door to the interrogation room, Frankie and Elaine came out of the observation booth. Frankie was grinning.

‘Man, that was impressive,’ she said.

‘Another gamble,’ Elaine said stiffly, ‘but this time it paid off. Well done, Detective.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Aaron and Stacey were brought in an hour later. Just as Trent had said, they were found huddled in the room beneath the church. Frankie and Matt, who’d gone in first, hadn’t even needed to kick down the door. Pastor Danny had given Frankie a key to the room and the arrests went down without incident. 

Gail and Chloe were in the break room and came out into the corridor to see the two being led into interrogation. Stacey stopped in front of Gail, not budging even though Frankie told her to keep moving.

‘We had plans for you,’ Stacey said.

‘Such a shame we had to go ruin them,’ Gail said, her saccharine delivery making it clear the comment was sarcastic. 

She watched then as Stacey sucked in her cheeks, gathering salvia, which she spat at Gail. Stacey’s face was full of hate and up close Gail realized how dead her eyes were. She might have felt some sympathy for the woman but for the heinous crimes she had helped commit, the part she had played in putting all those women through such terror. Even if Trent was the main perpetrator, Stacey had stood by while he tortured and then casually killed and discarded them. 

Stacey’s aim was off and the glob of spit fell short of Gail. Frankie gave Stacey a shove to keep her moving along.

‘Good to see you haven’t lost your knack of pissing people off, Gail’ Chloe observed and Gail gave a wry smile.

They kept watching as Aaron and Stacey were jostled into separate interrogation rooms.

‘Who have we got there?’ asked Pedersen, coming up behind Gail and Chloe. He’d just come on duty and clearly hadn’t caught up on the dramatic last few hours.

‘Stacey and Aaron Schmidt,’ Chloe said.

‘What? You mean Trent Savage’s accomplices?’

Gail nodded.

‘But I thought you’d given up on the investigation. That Trent and those two had left Toronto.’

‘Well, Trent has been sitting in interrogation for the last two hours,’ Gail said insouciantly. She’d noticed that Pedersen’s voice had risen slightly as if a little panicked.

‘What, you arrested him?’ Pedersen had paled considerably.

Gail smiled. It was that dangerous smile of hers, the one that didn’t reach her eyes. If you knew Gail well, Chloe thought, you’d recognize it held no warmth or joy. Instead there was a flintiness to it, which Chloe knew from experience was a harbinger that Gail was about to strike.

‘Yeah. Good result don’t you think?’ Gail said.

‘Huh. Oh yeah. I just need to make a call,’ Pedersen said, retreating back into the break room.

Gail looked at Chloe with raised eyebrows and inclined her head in Pedersen’s direction. Chloe nodded in understanding. She quietly followed Pedersen into the break room, with Gail just behind her. As Pedersen raised his cellphone to his ear, Chloe interrupted.

‘Hand over your phone Officer Pedersen,’ she said, ‘that’s an order.’

Pedersen spun around, a look of surprise on his face and Chloe took the opportunity to pluck the phone out of his hand. He began to splutter in protest, but Chloe held up the phone so Gail could see Martha Fisher’s name on the screen.

‘Tsk, tsk Pedersen. You’re not even smart enough to use an alias,’ Gail said. It was the tone of voice she reserved for idiot criminals.

As the call connected, Chloe pressed speaker on the phone.

‘Pedersen,’ Martha Fisher said, ‘have you got something new. ‘We’ve put the paper to bed. It’s being printed as I speak.’

‘It’s not Pedersen. This is Officer Price.’

‘Oh,’ Martha said, sounding faintly put out, ‘have you got some information for me.’

‘Pedersen told you the killer got away and we’ve dropped the investigation.’

‘Yes, yes,’ Martha sounded impatient, ‘it’s the lead story in tomorrow’s paper.’

‘Ms Fisher, Toronto Police will be issuing an official press release about the investigation later tonight. You might like to take a look at it.’

‘What do you mean? Can I talk to Pedersen?’

‘No. I don’t believe Pedersen will call again.’ With that Chloe disconnected the phone and held it out to Gail. ‘I doubt she’ll want to take your calls, Pedersen. She’s going to have egg on her face tomorrow.’ 

Thanks,’ Gail said as she took the phone and turned to Pedersen, ‘this is going into evidence. I imagine SIU will be very interested in your call log. I'm sure when they trawl through it they're going to find a lot of calls to Martha Fisher's number. Meantime, we don’t need rats like you here. Go home and report back here to Sergeant Shaw tomorrow at 9am.’

Pedersen looked at Gail and Chloe sullenly. 

‘You all close ranks don’t you. All you fucking dykes.’

‘Get out,’ Gail said, her voice low and hard, ‘before you say something even more stupid.’

Pedersen started to speak and then reconsidered before scurrying out of the room.

‘Shouldn’t we send him to Oliver now?’ Chloe asked.

‘There’s enough going on with these arrests. I thought this could keep. Besides,’ Gail’s grin was slightly evil, ‘Oliver won’t be waiting for him at 9am. It will be the Superintendent. I’m going to sic my mother on Pedersen. After tonight she’ll need to let off a bit of steam.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

 

It was well past 1am when Holly trudged up the stairs to Gail’s room. All she had wanted to do since seeing Gail sitting slumped on the log outside the cabin was draw her into a hug and hold her close, but she’d had a job to do. It was bad enough when she found out Gail was first on the scene, but when Gail described what had happened when she entered the cabin, Holly nearly lost it.

‘He had the gun pointed at you?’ Holly felt her voice rise, and was thankful Rodney was the only other one besides them in the cabin.

‘Yeah, it’s okay Holly, he didn’t fire.’

‘But you could have been killed. What were you thinking? How can you be so calm about this, Gail.’

‘Okay, Holly,’ Gail said, moving to face Holly and bringing up her hands to rest lightly on the pathologist’s upper arms, ‘just breathe. I’m here. I’m alive. We both need to focus on doing our jobs. Especially if we want to put Trent away for good. Later, I promise you can rant or whatever at me. Okay?’

Holly had nodded. ‘But I’m not going to rant at you. I get it. You did what you had to do and you saved Melanie. So when I get you alone I’m going to hold you so tight and for as long as I can and I’m going to be thankful for every precious moment I have with you, Gail. Deal?’

‘Deal,’ Gail had given Holly one of those smiles she reserved just for her. Wide and happy and full of love.

Once upstairs, Holly showered quickly. As much to mentally wash herself clean as to remove the grime of the crime scene. Then she quietly slipped into bed and moved over behind Gail, who was lying on her side and facing away from Holly. She curved her body around Gail’s, tucking her knees in behind Gail’s and putting an arm around her waist before nuzzling her face into Gail’s neck and placing a soft kiss just behind her ear. Gail stirred then.

‘You’re here. I didn’t know if you’d come back tonight,' she said softly.

‘Well, technically it’s morning, but yes I’m here. I’ll always come back, Gail. Especially after a day like today.' Holly couldn’t see in the dark, but she could sense Gail was smiling.

‘It’s over,’ Gail breathed.

‘Yes,’ Holly agreed, tightening her grip on Gail’s waist and drawing her closer, ‘it’s over.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So no more cliffhangers! For now at least. I anticipate there will one more chapter in this story (which will be mostly fluff and no danger). It might even feature the return of Lisa and Alannah (Steve’s doctor) and it’s about time Steve was released from hospital and sent on his way. Then I face the question of a sequel or just continuing or ending it here. What I want to know, if I do continue, should I just keep adding chapters to this story or, now that we’re up to Chapter 23, would it be easier for readers to start afresh?


	24. Twenty-four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters…..
> 
> Sorry for the delay in the update but this is now the longest chapter I have ever written (about 12,5000 words) so hopefully that makes up for it. It’s like two chapters in one. 
> 
> I felt overwhelmed (in the nicest possible way) by all the comments and encouragement to keep writing from reviewers both on this site and the Fanfic one. Thank you so much for reading and commenting and subscribing and leaving kudos. 
> 
> In some ways it feels like this could be the natural place to end the story, but I plan to come back with a new crime and much less angst for Gail. I’m not sure how often I’ll update – writing this has swallowed up a lot of my spare time. I have about 50 books waiting to be read, I haven’t finished watching the new season of Orange is the New Black and I still have some Golly fics to catch up on! Still it has been such a pleasure writing about Gail and Holly and then getting your comments and knowing that readers are enjoying this. Your feedback often keeps me on track and sometimes inspires me to take the story in new directions, so thank you. I appreciate it so much.
> 
> I promised more fluff in this chapter and there is some of that, but I got sidetracked by Frankie’s backstory and Gail needed to do a little more figuring out, especially about her relationship with Steve. So there are some introspective moments too. Hope you enjoy. As always, let me know what you think.
> 
> And finally, apologies for any mistakes. I proof this myself and there were a lot of words!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

At 9.13 the following morning, Dov found Gail and Chloe with their ears practically pressed to the glass wall of Oliver’s office. The venetian blinds were drawn and the door shut, but Dov could still make out the sound of a raised voice. He recognized it as belonging to Superintendent Peck.

‘What are you two doing?’ Dov asked Gail and Chloe.

‘Just hanging,’ Gail said, as innocently as she could.

Dov looked at her skeptically and then turned to Chloe. ‘Well, Chloe?’

‘We’re just waiting.’

‘Uh, waiting for what?’

‘Geez Price, why do you have to have such a nosey boyfriend? Pedersen is in there. Superintendent Mom’s just started to tear strips off him and, until you interrupted us Dov, we could hear every word she was saying.’

‘You’re eavesdropping!’ Dov sounded a little scandalized. ‘Isn’t that unethical?’ he added but both women shushed him as Elaine’s voice became louder and they distinctly heard her say ‘How dare you make that allegation. If I had my way I’d drum you out of the force today but you are suspended pending the outcome of the SIU investigation.’

‘What allegation?’ Chloe said and then shoved Dov in the shoulder, ‘Dov, you made us miss an important bit.’

‘You’ve corrupted Chloe,’ Dov said to Gail, looking a little stunned by Chloe’s behavior, consternation in his voice.

‘Yeah, yeah of course I have,’ Gail said, waving her hand dismissively, ‘just shut up so we can listen.’

At that moment Elaine flung open the door to Oliver’s office and Pedersen walked out, flanked by two detectives Gail knew belonged to SIU.

‘You and Officer Price can come in now, Detective Peck,’ Elaine said before turning back into the office.

‘How did she know we were out here?’ Chloe said, a note of wonder in her voice.

‘That’s Superintendent Mom. All seeing. All knowing.’ Gail shrugged, ‘It’s like the Bat-sense, except it doesn’t warn her when her enemies about to attack, although come to think of it she could probably do with a sense like that. No, it just tingles when I’m around.’ 

As she finished speaking, Gail raised her hands and shimmied them around her head. Chloe chuckled. It was true though, Gail thought, her mother seemed to have a sixth sense whenever she was near by.

‘The Gail-sense,’ Chloe said.

‘Exactly,’ Gail nodded, and then walked into the office with Chloe following.

Dov shook his head in wonder, not quite believing what he had witnessed.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Frankie stuck her head around the door to Steve’s hospital room but found it empty. There was only one bed, so no roommate who might know his whereabouts. Which was a good thing, given what she’d heard on the grapevine about some of O’Leary’s boys deciding Steve needed more than a beating. As far as Frankie was concerned, the fewer people who knew where Steve Peck was, the better.

Still, it was typical of the Pecks to pay for a private room. Only the best for the golden boy. It had been like that ever since Frankie known Steve and it looked like disgrace and a stint behind bars hadn’t changed anything. 

Frankie had never been able to work out why was Gail treated so differently. The Pecks clearly had no idea of the damage they’d done by playing favorites. It had made Steve soft and entitled and a little craven but Gail swung between wanting to please her parents and a sullen fuck you defiance. These days it was mostly defiance and yet Gail was evolving into the sort of police officer that should have made the Pecks’ proud. 

It said a lot that Gail had thrived as her parent’s influence waned in Toronto policing, but now Elaine had regained her footing in the force it was going to be harder for Gail to maintain her distance.

Frankie was no stranger to parental neglect, although she kept that a close secret. Gail had found out some in an unguarded moment. Just a little but enough, Frankie knew, to guess the rest. Sherry, Frankie’s mother, was addicted to pills and booze, desperate to be loved, moving from one man to the next, each one more venal than the previous. A clutch of children, all with different fathers, left to fend for themselves, the only constant being the new boyfriend Sherry brought home every year or so to replace the last one who left. 

And they all left eventually, sick of her mother’s clinginess and paranoia and volatility and the days when Sherry was too out of it to get out of bed. She made a mean drunk too. On those days Frankie learnt to make her self scarce to avoid the swearing and the screaming and the objects that were thrown and shattered against walls, the arguments that often ended with her mother’s face bruised and bloodied.

Frankie was a middle child and determined to be different. She began to distance herself from an early age, choosing solitude over the tumult of home, to expect nothing of people and give nothing. That became her mantra. She knew she had to get out of there. So she studied hard and finished school and joined the force. 

In her first year out as a rookie, Frankie had the satisfaction of arresting one of those men Sherry had professed to love. A smalltime drug dealer, he was actually one of the nicer of her mother’s boyfriends. He didn’t slap Sherry or the kids around. They’d lived in a trailer park then and, when he came over to have sex with Sherry, he’d give the kids money to go buy candy and stay out of the trailer until he was done. 

And love didn’t last. Frankie had seen that first hand in the succession of men her mother hooked up with, in Sherry’s misery at their inevitable departure and in her pathetic coquetry to make them stay. It repelled Frankie and strengthened her determination to be entirely self-reliant. Until Gail. Then Frankie realized that this act of rebellion against her mother – the refusal to love – had made her resemble Sherry more than she cared to admit. It was there in the steady stream of lovers who all too soon made Frankie feel loveless and hollow. There was one crucial difference - unlike her mother Frankie always did the leaving. Until Gail. 

Frankie wondered if she should wait for Steve. Elaine expected her back at 15 in less than half an hour to resume the interview with Aaron. She could go and ask that cute nurse on the desk. The one that Frankie could have sworn winked at her as she backed away from the desk. It annoyed Frankie that she couldn’t be certain if it was a wink or if the nurse simply had a tic or something in her eye. 

She felt like she was losing her game and couldn’t understand why. Well, actually she knew why. It was Gail. She wasn’t supposed to fall for Gail. Well anyone really, but somehow Gail had got to her and, no matter how many women she’d slept with since, how many flirtations she started and how many numbers she’d promised to call, she just couldn’t shake what Gail had done to her. 

Was this her punishment for stomping on so many hearts? For cutting women loose the moment they wanted more. She’d cultivated a cool indifference until it became a shell, brittle and impermeable, a reflex against love or commitment that stifled her gentler impulses. Frankie had held fast to the conviction that being a skillful lover was enough, but the truth was she’d been a lousy lover. Oh yes, she knew a myriad of ways to make a woman come undone, to make them cry out her name and beg for more, but when it came to actually loving someone, to admit feelings, to break that shell and expose the softer, the vulnerable self inside, she had failed. Until Gail but Gail loved someone else and always would. 

It wasn’t that Frankie hadn’t gotten over Gail. No, it wasn’t that exactly. Frankie had come to appreciate that it was more nuanced than that. For Gail had made her want to love and be loved. When Frankie now looked at Gail with Holly and saw the irrepressible pull between them, the attraction that while plainly physical had an equal emotional complement, the affinity and tender devotion which made theirs such an exquisite love, she felt the absence of this in her own life. This had never been part of Frankie’s plan. She was aloof and cynical. Not sappy and sentimental. Yet try as she might, she couldn’t deny that when she looked at Gail and Holly it felt as though the shell in which she had encased her heart had been painfully cracked. 

And Gail was the reason she was here, waiting to warn Steve. He was scum, as far as Frankie was concerned. You didn’t betray your police family. That was anathema. But Gail loved Steve, even if he had at times colluded with his parent’s bullying. Gail felt guilty enough for Steve’s current predicament and Frankie knew if O’Leary’s boys did carry out their threat to murder him Gail was bound to feel responsible.

Deciding she couldn’t wait any longer, Frankie swiveled around quite suddenly and collided into a woman who clearly wasn’t watching where she going and hadn’t seen Frankie standing there or noticed her turn to go. The woman made a slight oomph of surprise and dropped the chart she was holding and it made a loud clattering noise as it skidded across the floor. 

Frankie was about to say the eye clinic was on the next floor down, but the barb died on her lips as the woman straightened up and Frankie saw her properly for the first time. She was a little taller than Frankie, with honey colored blonde hair, and hazel eyes that were more green than brown. Inexplicably, Frankie found herself drawn to her. So instead of paying her out, she found herself apologizing as she retrieved the chart and handed it back to the woman.

‘No totally my fault, I have a bad habit of walking and reading charts at the same time,’ the woman said and smiled.

So a doctor and a nerd, Frankie surmised.

‘Are you here to visit Steve’ the doctor asked, ‘or on business?’ She gestured to Frankie’s badge.

Frankie’s hand went down to touch the badge, which was clipped to her belt. She’d forgotten to take it off when she came into the hospital.

‘Err, visiting.’

‘That will cheer him up. He hasn’t had any visitors apart from family. Gail’s here most days, if she can make it, but she’s been busy with that serial killer case. I heard you made some arrests last night, which must be a relief. It will certainly make the citizens of Toronto sleep easier. Were you working that case? Oh, I guess you probably can’t tell me. Steve’s just been so worried about Gail and then I read in the paper that that guy tried to attack her. Sorry, I’m rambling. Steve should be back from physiotherapy any moment. I need to look in on some other patients so,’

‘Oh yeah, of course.’ It only occurred to Frankie then that the woman had been rambling and she noted with some surprise that it hadn’t irritated her in the least. ‘Nice talking to you Doctor?’ The word doctor was said with an uprising inflexion so it became a question.

‘Barrett, Dr Barrett. Alannah. I’m Steve’s neurologist.’

‘Nice meeting you, Alannah,’ Frankie said and held out her hand, a rare smile on her face. Gail hadn’t told her how attractive Steve’s doctor was, but then that wasn’t surprising. These days nobody existed for Gail except Holly.

‘Don’t fall for her allure. Trust me Alannah you don’t want to be another notch in Frankie’s belt,’ Frankie heard Steve say, his voice all charm and teasing and giving no indication that she hadn’t spoken to him for over two years. Still, she guessed he was practiced at putting on a front. He had them fooled for over a decade. 

She turned to see Steve being pushed in a wheelchair by an orderly. As he got closer she realized how much he’d aged. He’d lost that hint of boyishness in the slight drag that affected one side of his face and destroyed the symmetry that had made him a handsome man. 

‘Shame that knock to the head didn’t get rid of your bullshit, Steve,’ Frankie sassed and Steve laughed. 

‘I forgot how much you remind me of my sister sometimes.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘So,’ Elaine said, indicating that Gail and Chloe should take a seat, ‘Officer Pedersen has made a counter claim that he has been discriminated against while here at 15 for being a privileged white male. Do you know anything about that?’

Chloe looked confused and Gail laughed.

‘What an ass,’ she said.

‘Detective Peck,’ Elaine admonished, but Gail could see a smirk twitching at the corner of her lips.

‘That’s not what he said is it?’ Gail said.

Elaine sighed. ‘No. He claims you and Detective Anderson deliberately sidelined him because he was not female and gay, and that you both actively favored lesbians on this investigation and gave them opportunities, including apparently your girlfriend Officer Price. 

‘My girlfriend Officer Price,’ Gail echoed, clearly amused.

‘It was news to me and I imagine will be for Holly and Detective Epstein.’

Gail bit her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing out loud.

‘He can’t be serious.’

‘I’m afraid he is. It’s a nuisance complaint but unfortunately, given the seriousness of the allegations against him, SIU will also have to look into it. So they will be questioning both you and Detective Anderson. Is there anything I should be concerned about?’

‘You don’t believe we’d do something like that?’

‘No, of course not but I need to know if anything you’ve said or done to Pedersen could be misconstrued.’

‘Umm, I made him buy Holly lunch after he said inappropriate things about her at a crime scene.’

‘Inappropriate?’

‘He said she was hot and was bragging to Gerald, I mean Duncan, that he was going to ask her out.’

‘So Officer Moore can corroborate?’

Gail nodded.

‘That same day he started to call Detective Anderson and I fucking dykes and I said I’d put him on charge if he continued. He said the same thing to me and Officer Price yesterday when we confiscated his phone.’ 

‘He is an odious young man,’ Elaine said. 

Her mother may be many things, but Gail knew a homophobe was not among them.

‘Oh, and Frankie, um Detective Anderson made him go dumpster diving after she overheard him discussing that documentary on serial killers and he said I was gay because of Perick.’ 

It was fleeting, but Gail could have sworn that at the mention of Perick, Elaine looked pained. 

‘I don’t think he realized the two things, his mouthing off and the dumpster diving, were related though,’ Gail continued.

‘Well, I don’t think we have anything to fear from this allegation but just be prepared to answer questions. The sooner we can rid the force of him the better.’

Gail and Chloe both nodded.

‘Officer Price, there’s a detective rotation coming up. I hope you intend applying.’

Chloe blinked. She hadn’t expected that and certainty wasn’t prepared for the abrupt shift in topic. Gail was used to it. In fact she sometimes unconsciously did it herself in conversation, jumping bizarrely between subject matters that had no apparent connection. However, where in Gail it was just part of her quirkiness, in Elaine it was abrasive and calculated. It flustered people, put them on edge and this allowed Elaine to take charge. It was exactly this technique that made her such a successful interrogator, feared by criminals and subordinates alike. 

‘Uh,’ was all Chloe managed to say before Elaine cut across her.

Well, I think you should. I’d be happy to recommend you.’

‘Really,’ Chloe smiled brightly, ‘thank you Superintendent. I’d appreciate that. Thank you.’

‘Don’t thank me. You’ve been very impressive on this investigation.’

Gail grinned. Elaine’s manner might be brusque but she was actually doing something nice for once and for someone whom Gail cared about, even if she wouldn’t admit it out loud.

‘Gail, don’t imagine for a moment that I will agree to let you and Officer Price, if she is successful, be partners,’ Elaine said sharply, catching sight of Gail’s grin. ‘She needs to be partnered with someone with more than a passing regard for police procedure.’

Gail rolled her eyes. ‘Mom, I could recite police procedure practically before I could walk.’

‘Hmm,’ Elaine made a skeptical sound.

‘Actually Superintendent,’ Chloe said, ‘I feel like I’ve learnt a lot about procedure working with Gail.’

It wasn’t true. If anyone was across procedure it was Chloe. Still Gail shot her a grateful look.

‘Really,’ Elaine said, sounding doubtful.

Gail sighed to herself. Why was it every time her mother praised one of Gail’s friends or colleagues she had to follow it up by denigrating her? She didn’t begrudge Chloe or the fact that Elaine had singled her out. Gail didn’t even want credit for her own achievements. She just wished her mother wouldn’t undermine her every chance she got. Was that too much to ask, she wondered?

‘Don’t slouch dear,’ Elaine said, ‘you need to break that habit.’

Gail hadn’t realized she’d slumped slightly. When she was younger she did it on purpose to annoy Elaine but now it was as if instinctively her body became bowed in direct proportion to her mother’s level of disappointment in or castigation of her. Gail wondered if Elaine’s comment about her posture was also reflexive or if she intentionally set out to belittle her, reduce her to a child rather than treat her as a woman not far off thirty. 

‘Officer Price, can you give my daughter and I a moment?’ Elaine said. 

Once Chloe left the office, shutting the door behind her, Elaine turned back to Gail. 

‘You are to receive a commendation for your undercover work in Vancouver. There’s a ceremony on Monday. The Chief of Police will be there so don’t think you can dodge it. I’ve already emailed Holly. I guessed you wouldn’t tell her.’

‘Uh yeah,’ Gail said as if that last bit was a no brainer, ‘I don’t deserve a commendation. I mean, mom if you hadn’t saved my ass I probably wouldn’t even be here.’

‘Why do you insist on putting yourself down,’ Elaine said.

I’m putting myself down, Gail thought incredulously. Had her mother listened to what came out her mouth lately?

‘A major drug cartel was smashed as a result of the work you and Officer Collins did,’ Elaine continued, ‘Regardless, I expect you there on Monday.’

Gail nodded. She knew she wouldn’t win this argument. ‘Is that all, mother.’

‘One more thing. Holly seems bothered by your profession.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The other day in the woods - she appeared somewhat disconcerted.’

‘Well mother, I think it’s quite acceptable to be bothered when you find out a serial killer has just pointed a gun at your girlfriend’s head, but hey I’ve probably got that wrong too along with police procedure.’

‘That is not what I said,’ Elaine sighed heavily, ‘but if it is going to cause problems maybe you should end the relationship now before you get your heart broken.’

‘My heart broken? I don’t think, what?’ Gail’s forehead was creased in confusion. ‘I mean I don’t get what your saying here.’

‘Holly is very protective of you.’

‘Yes. I wasn’t aware that was a crime,’ Gail said testily.

‘I wasn’t suggesting that, Gail,’ Elaine sighed, ‘but it’s not the way you were raised. Peck’s are self-reliant.’

Gail rolled her eyes.

‘That’s not really the way relationships work, mother.’

‘Don’t get me wrong. I like Holly,’ Elaine said, ignoring Gail’s comment. ‘She is by far the most suitable of any of your partners. However, if things do go wrong there are plenty of accomplished and eligible women out there. The mayor’s daughter, Tessa, is one. Single, according to her mother.’

‘She’s a teenager,’ Gail said.

‘Don’t be dramatic. She’s nineteen. Your father is nearly ten years older than me. That sort of age difference means nothing. And there is always Alannah. I have a feeling she still carries a torch for you.’

‘Mother stop,’ Gail said, holding up her hands to block her ears, ‘Holly is my girlfriend. I’m not interested in anyone else. I just want to be with Holly and I don’t care if she’s bothered by my job. I mean I do care but we’re figuring it out. She accepts there are risks that come with being a police officer.’

‘Very well. But in my many years on the force, I’ve seen a large number of relationships flounder for this very reason. No matter how hard the civilian partner tries to live with what it means to love a police officer, inevitably it causes tension and conflict. There is a reason most police marry within the force. If you change your mind, I have Tessa’s number.’

Gail let out an exasperated sigh and turned to go, not bothering to say goodbye but as she reached the door, Elaine spoke again.

‘I know this investigation was hard on you. I was worried it would bring up memories of Perick, that it was too personal. I was right to be concerned this would have a detrimental affect on your work. Look at the risks you took. You even disobeyed direct orders. But,’ Elaine paused.

Gail waited, one hand on the doorknob.

‘But those gambles paid off and -.’ Again Elaine stopped and when she next spoke it was with great difficulty, as if she couldn’t quite get the words out, ‘And you’ve done the Peck name proud.’

Done the Peck name proud. Is that all she got, Gail thought. Couldn’t her mother just say she was proud of her? That she’d done a good job.

‘Well, you know mother, that’s what I live for,’ Gail couldn’t help retorting bitterly.

Elaine flushed slightly and seemed to be once more struggling to find words. ‘Ah, people higher up have noticed. They’re impressed with you. And Detective Anderson too.’

‘That’s not why I do it,’ Gail said softly.

‘I know,’ Elaine replied and for once there was no hint of censure in her tone, ‘you care Gail. The best officers are the ones that never lose their compassion, even when they’ve seen the worst.’

‘Or maybe because they’ve seen the worst.’

Elaine looked directly at Gail then, her face sagging a little, her bearing less straight and her voice, when she spoke, faltered. 

‘I should have been there, after Perick. I let you down.’

Gail didn’t know how to respond. Before she could think of a suitable reply, there was a tap on the door and Frankie was there.

'Aaron's ready for us in interview room one, Superintendent,' she said.

'Very well, thank you Detective,' Elaine nodded briskly and turned to Gail, a little apologetically, 'we need to pick up the interview with Aaron. Out of the three, he's proving the most forthcoming.' 

Elaine stood to follow Frankie, who had moved to wait outside the door, but then hesitated. 

'Gail, your non conformity may just be the thing that will make you a brilliant police officer.'

With that Elaine swept past Gail, leaving her blinking slightly, not certain she had heard her mother correctly.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘Uh I don’t know what to make of my mother,’ Gail whined. 

She was perched on Holly’s desk, having brought lunch for both of them. On her way into the office, Sally had smiled warmly, saying that poor Dr Stewart was so snowed under with work she forgot to eat, and that she was about to go buy Holly lunch when Gail turned up, and wasn’t the doctor so lucky to have someone like Gail looking after her, and Gail must force Holly to take a break, otherwise she’d just keep working and that wasn’t in the least good for her. Gail managed a smile, all the while thinking was Holly’s rambling contagious because her assistant seemed to have a bad case of it. As she babbled, Sally’s smile had become quite beatific and Gail felt obliged to respond. 

‘Well, she’s lucky to have you looking out for her too,’ she said rather awkwardly and then held up the lunch bags and indicated the door, ‘I better deliver sustenance. Can’t have that great mind seizing up from lack of nourishment.’

Gail felt like doing a face palm and was glad no one else was around, including or maybe especially Holly, to witness her ineptness. What had Dov once called her? Maladroit. That about summed it up. Sally didn’t seem to have noticed. She was now nodding and all the while smiling that radiant smile.

‘What do you mean, you don’t know what to make of your mother?’ Holly said, as she bit into her sandwich.

‘I think she was trying to apologize for not being there after Perick but she’s actually incapable of saying sorry.’

‘Oh, so that’s where you get it from.’

‘Not helping Holly,’ Gail pouted.

‘Okay, but you have to admit it’s a Peck trait.’

‘Maybe,’ Gail conceded a little grudgingly, ‘I thought I was getting better at that.’

Holly tilted her head to the side and gave Gail a slightly crooked smile. 

‘You are.’

‘But I don’t apologize to idiots or losers, Holly.’

‘Of course you don’t. I guess I should count myself lucky not to be considered an idiot or a loser,’ Holly kidded.

‘Oh, you are definitely none of those things, Holly. Far from it. On the other hand, my mother is neither an idiot or a loser, but perhaps a borderline psychopath. Maybe that’s in the Peck genes too.’ Gail laughed harshly and Holly gave her a dubious look.

‘As I was leaving – I was practically out the door - Elaine told me that on this last case I done the Peck name proud. Although the way she said it was like she was in pain or something.’

Holly made a face at that and Gail had to laugh. She wasn’t sure if Holly was reacting to the notion of living up to the Peck name or Elaine’s grudging praise.

‘Well, it sounds like Elaine, in her own way, is trying to make amends,’ Holly gave Gail another one of her crooked smiles. It was soft and understanding and immediately made Gail feel comforted. ‘How do you feel about that?’

‘Oh god, you sound like my therapist,’ Gail groaned, ‘but it was weird and I don’t entirely trust her. Elaine’s always got some game plan going. She doesn’t do anything without a reason.’

‘I think you’re being too harsh on her. Elaine was genuinely worried about you when she heard you’d gone after Trent. She’s just not very good at showing her feelings, which I guess is another Peck trait.’ 

It was a gentle dig. Gail could tell that by Holly’s smile and she knew not to take offence. They’d talked at length about it and how it had played a big part in their undoing that first time.

‘Okay I guess I deserve that. But I wouldn’t rush to Elaine’s defense. She was also busy listing all the eligible women I could date if you and I don’t work out. It’s like she can’t help herself. Now she can’t marry me off to one of the sons of Toronto’s scions, she’s going to fix me up with one of their daughters instead.’

‘If you murder your mother it’s called matricide, right.’

Gail nodded, not sure where Holly was going with this.

‘So what’s it called when you murder your girlfriend’s mother?’

‘In this case. A mercy killing,’ Gail said and they both burst out laughing. 

‘Is your mother aware that I could dispose of her body so nobody would find any trace of her.’

‘Well, she should know better than to mess with you Dr Stewart,’ Gail said and leaned down to brush a soft kiss on Holly’s lips.

‘Just for the record, you know I’m a pacifist, right. I don’t condone murder.’ 

Gail laughed again.

‘You are such a nerd.’

Holly rolled her eyes but then turned more serious.

‘Elaine thinks I can’t handle your job, doesn’t she?’

Gail thought of denying it, but Holly was looking at her so intently she didn’t think she could get away with being evasive.

‘God, you’re too smart for your own good. Uh, she’s just worried it could cause problems. I told her it was fine, but.’

‘But that didn’t stop her offering to set you up on dates.’

‘Uh, yeah,’ Gail twisted her mouth in annoyance.

‘Maybe she thinks you need to play the field. See what’s out there before you settle on someone,’ Holly teased.

‘Who’s to say I didn’t play the field when you were in San Francisco, Holly.’

It was meant to be playful but then Gail saw something that looked awfully like uncertainty cross Holly’s face. It was gone in an instant but still Gail wondered why Holly would be even the slightest bit unsure of them. 

‘If that is my mother’s intention, there is one major problem and that is I’m madly, no insanely in love with you and no one else will do,’ Gail continued in a bantering tone. ‘So if you thought that getting me to take up Elaine’s blind date offers might be a sneaky way of off loading me, I’ve got news for you.’

‘You are insane,’

‘So you tell me. Although, Holly, being insanely in love with you is probably my finest moment of crazy.’

Gail smiled broadly and Holly couldn't help but smile back, her foolish flash of doubt dispelled, her delight that Gail loved her, wanted only her, impossible to hold in. 

For a moment they became absorbed gazing at each other and Gail marveled anew at how easy it was for them to fall into these bubbles, even at work, even in the middle of an investigation or when Holly was writing a detailed report on the crime scene in the cabin. No one else had had this effect on Gail. It made the hard things bearable. It gave her a reason to hope, despite an upbringing and a job that could on its worst days make her think otherwise, that the world was mostly tipped this way, towards what was good and safe and nurturing, that in the end this was what most people sought, love and tenderness.

She leaned in and kissed Holly again. This time it wasn't a brush against her lips but slow and sensuous, and Gail did that thing were she pulled Holly's bottom lip between her own. It left Holly feeling like her brain had literally short-circuited and, as Gail pulled back, Holly could only think about kissing her again. Then damn it if a voice in the back of her head didn't have to remind her that she had a mountain of work to catch-up on. She needed to finish the report, call the intern applicants to let them know if they’d been successful, meet with Dr Caral in, oh shit, ten minutes for a long overdue catch up, and then conduct a second autopsy on someone Rodney concluded died from natural causes, but whose family was convinced was murdered. She wouldn’t finish up at work until well into the evening.

As she leaned back, Gail couldn't help but let her eyes wander to Holly's cleavage. As usual the doctor had left several buttons undone and Gail's position on the desk gave her quite a vantage point. She’d been trying, without much success to be honest, to avoid peeking since she first came into the office. 

Holly followed her gaze and when she looked up the blue of Gail’s eyes had darkened so they were a deep indigo in color, like a moonlit sky at midnight, and her eyelids were heavy, yet there was keenness to her features. Holly recognized that look. It was a look of lust and desire. Really, it was incredible Gail hadn't realized she was a lesbian earlier given her wholehearted appreciation of women's breasts, or was it just hers that provoked this reaction, Holly wondered.

'Gail,' she said, placing her index finger under Gail's chin and tipping up her face to redirect her gaze, 'we are not having sex in my office.’

‘Oh, you’re no fun Holly,’ Gail pouted.

‘That pout will get you nowhere, Peck. At least not in my office.’

‘Meh,’ Gail said, shrugging as if unconcerned, ‘I can’t stay anyway. I’ve got an appointment with the department shrink to get cleared for duty. Elaine insisted. Will I see you tonight?’

‘I don’t think I’ll finish until late and then I promised to have dinner with Rachel and Lisa back at Rachel’s. They’ve been complaining they never see me. But tomorrow night?’

‘I have an appointment with my real shrink tomorrow evening. So the day after?’

Holly nodded. She understood Gail usually needed to be alone to have time to process after seeing Leslie. Gail hopped down from the desk and leant over and kissed Holly. Knowing Gail, Holly felt a little stupid that she didn’t anticipate what happened next. It wasn’t a perfunctory goodbye kiss. In fact there was nothing about this kiss that said anything about leave taking. No it was a kiss that drew you in, a kiss so enticing and so sensual and so lustful it made Holly forget her resolve of only moments ago to resist Gail’s advances.

It started with Gail pressing her lips lightly and then with increasing force against Holly’s. Then she ran the tip of her tongue across Holly’s upper lip, and before Holly knew it both their tongues were tangled, causing the most delicious sensations to course through her body. Holly became aware that both of them were moaning and panting a little, and she was suddenly very grateful that she was still sitting because she had become quite weak at the knees and there was that telltale wetness between her legs. Then Gail drew back, ending the kiss, and without another word turned and sauntered towards the door, an extra swing in her hips just for Holly’s benefit.

‘How do you expect me to concentrate on work after that?’ Holly said, finally finding her voice. In fact had Gail suggested they sex then and there on her desk, Holly decided she would have been powerless to resist.

Gail turned back with a mischievous smile. ‘Oh, I don’t know, same way I guess I have to keep my mind on the job and go out and protect and serve every time you lip attack me in interrogation rooms.’

With that, Gail was out the door.

Damn, thought Holly, if I don’t have the sexiest girlfriend on the planet and damn if she doesn’t know it.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The Departmental shrink cleared Gail. In fact she commented on how remarkably well-adjusted Gail was for someone who had had a gun pointed at her head not twenty-four hours earlier. Gail shrugged. After years of seeing shrinks, she knew what to say to keep them off her back. The real work would happen when she saw Leslie. The Departmental shrink told her not to go back to 15 until the following Monday. Three days off.

After sleeping in on Friday morning, Gail woke feeling surprisingly refreshed. She went for a swim then did some grocery shopping, stopping in at a Farmer’s Market that was open Fridays. At home she made a minestrone soup for dinner, figuring she might not feel much like cooking after she saw Leslie. Then she cleaned the house, removing the last traces of fingerprint dust left by forensics. 

She hated the thought of Trent being in her house, even if Frankie was fairly confident that Chloe had disturbed him and he got no further than crossing from the backdoor, where he’d gained access to the house, to the front porch. None of the other rooms appeared to be disturbed. Still she was extra thorough in her bedroom. 

If only Holly could see her now, Gail thought. She wouldn’t believe Gail could be so domesticated. Gail had been incredibly, in truth most probably annoyingly, lazy at the frat house. Dov would periodically draw up cleaning rosters that he’d stick to the fridge and then grumble when she ignored them. She wasn’t really a slob. It just was amusing and easier to let Dov and Chris think she was so she’d get out of the housework.

After lunch, Gail went to visit Steve. He was in a morose mood. She was getting used to this. Before Steve went to prison he was generally affable and self-assured, although now she couldn’t be sure how much of that had been an act. Back then she was seen as the temperamental one. Now, ever since he’d been bashed, Steve’s moods were up and down, swinging between geniality and dejection, joking one minute and sullen the next. Alannah said this could happen after a significant brain trauma.

Gail could tell something was gnawing at Steve. It took a bit of cajoling but finally Steve told her.

‘Frankie came to visit.’

Gail tried to conceal her surprise. Now that was not what she had expected him to say.

‘Some of O’Leary’s men have decided they want me permanently out of the picture. Putting me in hospital wasn’t enough,’ Steve tried to sound unconcerned but Gail could see the tension tugging at the corners of his mouth.

‘Shit, Steve,’ Gail blew out a breath, ‘God, I’m sorry. We need to get you out of here. Maybe you should come to my place, for now.’

‘No. I don’t want to bring this crap to your house. Mom’s sorted it out. I’m being transferred to a hospital in Calgary in three days. O’Leary’s reach doesn’t extend that far. Alannah thinks I should be out of rehab within the month anyway.’

‘But how safe are you here for the next three days?’ Gail asked, concentrating on the practical, the immediate rather than the fact of Steve’s leaving.

‘Didn’t you notice the plainclothes officer posted in the corridor,’ Steve ribbed, ‘don’t tell me being in love is making you sloppy.’

Gail rolled her eyes.

‘The guy in the checked shirt and blue chinos. Brown hair. Close cropped beard.’

Steve nodded.

‘Yeah, I thought he looked a little edgy. I figured he was worried about someone he was visiting. It is a hospital.’

‘Okay, so not so sloppy.’

‘You’ll need someone with you in Calgary. I can take some time off. I’ve got at least a month owed to me in vacation days.’

‘Gail,’ Steve sighed, ‘Dad’s coming with me. It’s all arranged. I’m not coming back to Toronto. He’s going to find me a place to live. Get me settled there.’

‘Oh,’ Gail said quietly.

‘You’ll come and visit, right? Once I’m in my own place and Dad’s left?’

‘Of course,’ Gail looked down at her hands and then said quietly, ‘I should have covered for you, then none of this would have happened.’

‘No, don’t say that. This is my fault. I wish Dad and I had never asked you to do that – to perjure yourself. It was wrong. The thing is I’m not as strong as you, Gail.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I swallowed Mom and Dad’s bullshit. I’m not trying to make excuses but I felt such pressure to live up to the ExPecktations, to be the golden boy. So when Santana asked me to turn a blind eye to some gang activity in exchange for some collars I agreed. It got me my first promotion and then before I knew it I was in too deep. You would never have done that, Gail. You stood up to Mom and Dad.’

‘Hardly,’ Gail snorted, ‘I was just surly and uncooperative.’

‘That was your way of resisting them. It was the only way you knew how. I was so desperate for their approval I even took their side against you sometimes. I didn’t always have you’re back. I haven’t been a good brother.’

‘Oh, Steve,’ Gail said sadly. She wanted to say it wasn’t true, but she couldn’t. ‘It wasn’t all bad, growing up. It felt like you shielded me from the worst of Mom and Dad’s meddling.’

‘I tried. Most of the time.’

‘What will you do in Calgary?’ Gail asked, changing the subject.

‘Dad has a contact there who runs a security business. He’s looking to expand and needs a partner.’

‘So you’ll be investing in the business?’

‘Yeah. Mom and Dad have offered to finance me,’ Steve said, sounding apologetic, ‘I’m sorry, that probably doesn’t seem right.’

‘It’s not like they’re going to leave me any money. You may as well have it now if it helps you get set up.’

Steve grimaced in response. Gail could see he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the situation, but really what choice did he have. He couldn’t strike out on his own. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for a disgraced former cop, so it made sense that her father would use his influence to buy into a business for Steve. A silence fell on them, neither of them sure what to say next.

'There's a poem,' Gail finally ventured.

'Yeah,' Steve raised a skeptical eyebrow.

‘It was written by a British poet in the 1970s. It could have been about Elaine and Bill. It starts out They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had and add some extra, just for you.’

'Phillip Larkin,' Steve said, surprising Gail that he knew the poet's name, 'doesn't the poem end by saying don't have any kids yourself.' 

'Yeah,' Gail laughed ruefully, 'that way you don't keep passing on the fucked upness.' 

‘Man hands on misery to man. It deepens like a coastal shelf. Get out as early as you can and don't have any kids yourself,’ Steve recited the final verse, ‘Oh shit, Gail. I didn’t mean.’ He stopped speaking. 

They'd never discussed it, but he guessed he was the reason Gail gave up on adopting Sophie. No adoption agency was going to be excited about the potential uncle being in jail. It was just another to add to the burden of his regrets.

‘It was for the best. She ended up with a much more suitable family’ Gail said, knowing immediately what Steve was referring to.

They both considered that for a moment. Gail regretted letting their conversation take such a somber turn. It was telling, she thought, that of all the poems ever written it was this one that she and Steve remembered, that had at separate times made an impression on both of them and that they could recite it by heart.

'You know our parents weren't all bad. We don't need to let them define us, ' she said.

'Gail, you never have. Even when you were trying to conform, part of you always resisted their ExPecktations. You've become your own person. I admire you for that.'

After that an awkwardness settled between then. Gail knew exactly the cause. Peck’s never admitted weakness and Steve seemed a little uncomfortable after what he had revealed. They didn't normally talk like this. Theirs had always been a joking, teasing relationship, a camaraderie born of the shared ordeal of their parents. Steve had mostly seemed untroubled by the exPecktations. If anything he appeared to rise to the challenge set by his parents, and Gail had trusted him to shield her a little. He was the one who smoothed the path for her, the prickly, surly little sister who had no real plans or ambitions, who struggled to find a place to fit, her weirdness and acerbity making it hard to make friends or to be at ease with the world. 

Now their roles had apparently reversed and it was Steve who was the outsider. Gail had broken through all the dross and the layers of guilt and the pressure to conform and the out and out bullying that was substance of her upbringing and she had made a choice to make a life that felt right and true and good. 

In truth they were both too sensitive to be born into the Peck family, to respond to that unforgiving regime without being damaged, because underneath the bluster and bravado lay this vulnerability. Steve might brag about being awesome and strut about like he was indeed the captain of the universe, and his parents had encouraged him to think that this was his inheritance, but it masked a self-doubt that Steve had never been able to shake. 

It was this self-doubt, his fear that he would never live up to the Peck name that, by his own admission, opened him up to corruption. Her parent’s expectations had destroyed Steve but what had they done to her, Gail wondered. In some strange inverted way had they become the making of her, her reaction against them making her the stronger person.

Soon after, Gail took her leave of Steve. When she came out of the elevator on the ground floor, she saw Lisa walking towards her. She was speaking animatedly to a woman with dirty blonde hair, cut in a fashionable but conservative bob.

‘Hi Gail, visiting Steve?’ Lisa said brightly as if they were old friends, as she drew up to Gail.

Gail narrowed her eyes slightly. She couldn’t help but wonder if Lisa was up to something.

‘Oh, this is Dr Francine Hart,’ Lisa said, gesturing to the woman beside her, ‘a friend of Holly’s from San Francisco. Francine, Gail.’

Gail shook Francine’s hand. A friend of Holly’s. Wasn’t she the doctor that went to Nigeria to work for Doctors without Borders, whom Lisa claimed Holly was serious about. Holly said they’d only had sex once and she probably wouldn’t have slept with Francine if she hadn’t been leaving for Africa the next day. 

At the time, Holly been deep in one of her ‘I never want to have another serious relationship ever again because I’ll never meet anyone like Gail ever again’ interludes. Sleeping with Francine that night had seemed like an uncomplicated no strings attached option. Imagine her surprise, Holly told Gail, when the following morning Francine revealed that for the past year she’d had a thing for Holly and wanted a relationship when she returned from Nigeria. 

‘Are you visiting?’ Gail asked, trying not to sound too hopeful that Francine didn’t have a more permanent stay in mind. She had no reason to dislike Francine; working for Doctors without Borders was admirable; and Gail was secure in her relationship with Holly so that wasn’t an issue. There was just something a bit off about Francine’s manner.

‘In a way,’ Francine replied enigmatically and exchanged a knowing glance with Lisa, like they were in on some private joke.

‘She’s been head hunted by the hospital. You’ve come to inspect it, haven’t you Francine. See if you like it and check out any other attractions Toronto might have on offer for you,’ Lisa said. 

Gail felt like the last bit was said a bit slyly. That if she hadn’t been there, Lisa may well have winked at Francine because it sounded awfully like the other attractions Lisa was referring to was Holly.

‘Well, Toronto is a great city. I’ve lived here all my life.’

‘All your life,’ Francine said, the scorn in her voice impossible to miss, ‘isn’t that a little limiting?’

‘Uh, I have travelled,’ Gail tried not to sound defensive.

At that moment the elevator dinged.

‘Shall we,’ Lisa said, her eyebrows lifted in inquiry.

‘Sure,’ Francine said, ‘Nice to meet you Jill.’

Had Francine just used one of Elaine’s favorite techniques to put her down – the old I’m too important to get your name right trick. Gail shook her head, not sure whether to be amused or annoyed. As the elevator doors began to close, she distinctly heard Francine say ‘is that the cop Holly’s sleeping with. I get that she’s a bit of eye candy but surely Holly’s out of her league.’

The elevator doors closing muffled Lisa’s reply, but Gail guessed she would have agreed wholeheartedly with Francine.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

'So you haven't had any more nightmares since Trent was arrested?' Leslie asked.

'No,' Gail sat forward on the couch so she could be more upright. Why was it that shrinks always had these couches you could sink into. Was it so your body was so relaxed, so lulled by the enveloping comfort that you wouldn't think to filter what came out of your mouth. Not that Gail wanted to filter. She trusted Leslie. That wasn't something she'd ever been able to say about a therapist before.

'No. It's weird but I've literally been sleeping like a baby. Even when Holly’s not there.’

‘Do you think that might have something to do with facing up to Trent and rescuing Melanie?’

‘It seems wrong to use that experience as my own personal therapy, especially when at least six women died and he tortured Melanie before we got him.’

‘Gail, I don’t think you are using that as personal therapy. The fact is it happened to you, just as Perick happened to you, so your reaction to this event, regardless of what it is, is valid. If you have taken something positive from this, the fact that Trent killed those women and hurt Melanie doesn’t make it any less valid,’ Leslie said kindly. 

‘Okay,’ Gail said, not sounding entirely convinced. 

‘Don’t forget, you risked your life to save Melanie and stop Trent.’ 

‘That’s my job,’ Gail shrugged, ‘but okay. It's like ever since the other night in the cabin, in fact this whole investigation has changed something.'

'Changed something?'

'It's hard to explain but I felt like Perick took a part of me and it’s not exactly like I’ve got that back but,’ Gail trailed off.

‘You always said Perick made you feel like a victim.’

‘Actually, he made me a victim.’

‘Which is hard enough for anyone let alone a police officer whose job it is to protect others or indeed a Peck.’

Gail nodded, suddenly understanding where Leslie was going with this.

‘So when I confronted Trent I wasn’t being a victim anymore. I took control.’

This time Leslie nodded.

‘From what you’ve told me, throughout this investigation, you never let him make you feel like a victim. I think that’s why you at times acted rashly, took risks you wouldn’t normally take in your job. Your own experience also made you determined not to let this happen to any more women.’

‘So what you’re saying is Perick threw my sense of who I was and confronting Trent allowed me to, well not exactly reclaim it, but feel stronger I guess in myself.’

‘Do you feel stronger?’

‘I feel a lot less like that broken girl that everyone couldn’t help but regard as a poor exchange for Jerry’s life, but that’s not just because of Trent. It’s been these sessions and the support of friends and the faith Holly has in me. It makes me feel, I dunno, worthwhile. Is it arrogant to say that?’

‘Not in the least,’ Leslie was smiling, ‘I get the feeling our work here may be done.’

‘Oh no, Leslie, I’m afraid Elaine has made sure I’m in for a lifetime of therapy,’ Gail joked but then turned more serious, ‘Steve’s leaving. It’s not safe for him to stay in Toronto.’

‘And how do you feel about that?’

‘Relieved. Responsible. I mean I’m relieved that Steve’s going somewhere where he’ll be safer, but if I had lied for him in court he wouldn’t need to go away.’

‘Could you have lived with yourself if you’d lied?’

Gail shrugged. ‘I’ll never know, just as I’ll never know if I would have lied if Steve hadn’t confessed. Doesn’t that make me just as bad as Steve?’

‘Well, if a colleague who was corrupt asked you to cover up for them, would you do it?’

‘No, of course not.’

‘And that’s because you have a strong moral compass. Gail, you’ve told me about your friend Nick and how he sometimes bent the rules to protect his brother. Do you condemn Nick for that?’

‘No, that’s different. They had a really tough time growing up and Nick’s brother never did anything really bad. Nick kind of feels responsible for him.’

‘Anything sound familiar here? Tough time growing up. Feeling responsible for your sibling?’ Leslie asked, ‘when it comes to families, to the people we care about, the waters get muddied. It’s sometimes impossible to know what is the right thing to do. Sometimes that moral compass wavers and that doesn’t make you a bad person, just human.’

Gail looked at Leslie skeptically.

‘You were conflicted. Steve saw that. He saw that lying to protect him went against all you believe in. Do you think by confessing he made a choice to do the right thing, not just by you but the right thing morally?’

Gail swallowed. ‘Yeah, I guess.’

‘And in doing that, he showed how much he cared about you.’

‘Yes,’ Gail admitted, her voice quiet, her head bowed a little as she contemplated this thought.

‘It sounds like Steve doesn’t blame you for not covering up for him, but Gail the question is can you forgive yourself?’  
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

When Gail got home from the therapy session the house was empty. Chloe had left a note saying she and Dov had gone out for dinner but would be back later. Gail felt a sudden need to talk to Holly but when she called her phone it just went to messages. It was a Friday night, perhaps she’d gone out with Lisa and Rachel. After all Gail had said she needed to be alone after seeing Leslie. 

It was healthy, not to be dependent on one another, thought Gail. They’d talked about that, about resisting the urge to U-Haul and agreed to take it slower, let the relationship evolve. The last few weeks of the investigation had been so intense it was like they’d hardly had a moment apart. Gail knew it was normal for Holly to need to spend some time with her friends. She wondered though if that included Dr Francine Hart. 

Of course Francine wouldn’t be a Fran or a Frankie. Seemed like she’d been to the same select school of snobbery, condescension and elitism that Lisa had attended. No wonder Lisa thought Francine was a good match for Holly. But Gail wasn’t worried about that. Not in the least. No, for the first time in her life, Gail felt completely secure about her relationship. 

She sent Holly a text, asking her to call if she didn’t get in too late. When Chloe and Dov returned just before ten, tipsy and clearly in an amorous mood, she retreated to her room and decided to have an early night. When she switched off her light about half an hour later, there was still no word for Holly. That was okay, Gail told herself as she fell asleep, wishing Holly was there with her now.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Gail was woken by her phone ringing. It took a moment to find it on the bedside table, so she didn’t bother to look at the caller id before groggily saying hello.

‘Oh, I woke you,’ Holly said, sounding apologetic, ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t get a chance to ring last night and I thought you’d be up.’

‘Well, I am now,’ Gail said, sitting up.

‘Well, sorry and good.’

‘Sorry and good? I know I’ve just woken up, but you’re not making a lot of sense Holly.’

‘I meant sorry for waking you up, but good you’re awake because I’ve got a proposition for you.’

‘A proposition.’

‘I have the apartment to myself for the day. Rachel’s visiting her parents and Lisa is out house hunting and I thought I could make you breakfast and then,’ Holly left the sentence hanging.

‘And then what?’

‘If you get your ass over here Peck, you might find out.’

‘Why am I sensing some urgency?’ Gail asked, all innocence.

‘No urgency but every minute you waste on this phone is one less minute you’ll spend here with me, and let me tell you Gail it’s been two days since you left me high and dry in my office and I’m sick of waiting.’

‘I didn’t think there was anything dry about you when I left your office, Holly,’ Gail deadpanned.

‘Just get over here already.’

‘Okay, okay,’ Gail said, throwing the covers off her bed so she could get up, ‘I’m coming.’

‘Well, if I have my way, you will be soon,’ Holly laughed before disconnecting.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Holly answered the door to the apartment wearing a pair of snug fitting boy shorts that Gail reckoned made her legs seem to go on forever and a tank top with no bra. Gail couldn’t decide what to appreciate first and as her gaze flicked almost comically from Holly’s breasts to her legs and back again, she caught Holly giving her a lop-sided grin so she decided the best course of action was just to kiss her. It was one of Gail’s trademark kisses. Gentle at first and then increasingly forceful and it left Holly in no doubt that Gail wanted her just as much as she did Gail. After a moment, Holly pulled back. She was smirking now.

‘Like what you see, detective?’ she asked, raising an eyebrow seductively.

Gail nodded mutely and then leaned in again for another kiss but Holly turned on her heel and strutted out of the little foyer where they were standing and into the living room. Was this payback for what happened in Holly’s office, Gail wondered. She followed Holly anyway, although a little tentatively.

Even though she had her back to Gail, somehow Holly picked up on the hesitation, because when she reached the sofa she said, ‘What are you waiting for Peck?’ 

With that she pulled off her tank top and turned around. Gail felt her mouth go dry and surged forward, placing one hand on the side of Holly’s face to bring her closer into a kiss and the other on her left breast, moaning as the weight of it settled in her hand, feeling its perfect shape. Then she pushed Holly back onto the sofa and, straddling her, continued to kiss her, alternating between quick nips to her lips and then slipping her tongue in to just touch Holly’s, all the while squeezing Holly’s breast and then rolling her nipple between her fingers. 

Holly was moaning now and trying to pull Gail closer, as if she wanted to remove any gap between their bodies. She placed a hand quite forcibly behind Gail’s head and brought their lips together before pushing her tongue in. She wanted more than Gail’s teasing kisses. Gail obviously felt the same way. She pushed back against Holly, their tongues moving together, at first in a tantalizingly slow and graceful, almost choreographed way, as if they were performing a familiar dance, and then less elegantly as the kiss intensified.

Gail slipped a hand beneath Holly’s boy shorts, splaying her fingers across Holly’s abdomen, and then drifting it down further and running a finger through her folds and finally inside. 

'You are so wet,' Gail breathed, pulling out the finger and sucking it. 

Holly was mesmerized. She felt another rush of the aforementioned wetness between her legs. Never had she responded so quickly to someone or been as excited by anyone as Gail. Never had anyone made her feel this good. Then Gail pushed herself off Holly and stood. Holly felt the loss of her immediately. Confused, her lips formed a pout. Gail paused. Holly wasn’t usually a pouter. That was Gail’s thing, but in that moment she came to the conclusion that Holly pouting was insanely sexy. 

Deciding now was not the time to be sidetracked, Gail bent forward and tugged Holly's boy shorts off. Then she knelt down before Holly and placed one of Holly's legs on her shoulder and leaned in, trailing kisses on either side of her inner thighs before bringing her mouth to Holly's center. Before long, she was sucking on Holly's clit and had two fingers inside her. Holly had one hand on Gail’s head, urging her on and the other hand twisting her own nipple. From the sounds Holly was making and the way her walls were tightening, Gail could tell she was close. 

Gail was too busy concentrating on what she was doing to Holly, and Holly was too caught up in the competing quivers and thrills that Gail was eliciting from her body which were fast unifying into one unstoppable surge of ecstasy, and so neither of them heard the front door open or the footsteps across the tiled foyer or the sound of Lisa’s voice carrying from there. 

'Hols, I 've found the perfect house. I need your opinion. I want you to come'. The rest of the sentence died on Lisa’s lips as she reached the door to the living room and Gail and Holly came into view.

And it was too late for either of them to stop what they were doing - Holly crying out Gail's name over and over, and Gail busying herself between Holly's legs – because it had reached a point where it was nearly over and Holly could contain herself no longer. All Gail could think was Holly was indeed coming but not in the way Lisa intended. 

'Jesus. Do you two not understand the concept of a room,' Lisa shrieked and then stormed out of the apartment, slamming the front door as she left.

After that they did move to Holly's room and Holly returned the favor to Gail, and then once more and then Gail decided it was Holly's turn again. As they lay tangled and satiated, their skin pleasantly humming, the sensations produced by their love making their bodies languid and charged all at once, Gail looked at Holly a little guilty. 

'Lisa will hate me even more now,’ she said.

'She doesn't hate you Gail. In fact, last night she stood up for you.'

'Stood up for me?'

'It was funny really. We had dinner with Francine. You know that doctor I met in San Francisco, the one I, well.'

'Yes, I know who Francine is,' Gail interrupted testily, ‘I ran into her and Lisa at the hospital yesterday.’

'Oh, she and Lisa didn’t tell me that. Weird,’ Holly said, ‘Well, anyway Francine kissed me.'

'Okay Holly, I'm not sure what is funny about that but I'm going to try to be really open minded and see where this is going.’ 

Holly made a face. 

‘The funny thing was that Lisa jumped to your defense. Francine followed me into the kitchen and sort of pounced on me. I guess Lisa knew something was up because she followed Francine. When she saw her trying to kiss me, and don't worry I was pushing Francine away, Lisa yelled at her and said how dare she do that when she knew I had a girlfriend I was serious about and who made me happy. Lisa pointed out I had spent the whole night making it abundantly clear I wasn't interested in Francine and then she threw her out.'

'Really, she threw her out?'

Holly nodded solemnly,

'That is funny.' Gail laughed, thinking clearly Lisa hadn’t meant Holly when she referred to Francine checking out Toronto’s other attractions. ‘Wait, was Lisa interested in Francine?’

‘I think so.’

‘Wow, this is twisted.’

'So you're not angry or upset?’ Holly asked.

'God no, it's not like you asked Francine to kiss you.'

With that, Holly leaned across and kissed Gail.

'What was that for?' Gail asked.

‘Because I love you.’

‘Only that?’

‘Isn’t that enough for you Peck?

Gail quirked an eyebrow and waited. 

'Alright, because when I told you about Francine you could have been a cat and gone up that tree but you didn't.'

'Jeez, I thought we'd agreed to give that metaphor a rest,' Gail grumbled.

Secretly, though, she was pleased that Holly had noticed. In the past something like this would have been enough to send Gail scrambling up that tree. It would have fed into her insecurities, her fears that she would never be good enough for anyone, and she would have convinced herself it was easier to get out before being inevitably dumped. 

For in Gail’s world there had been few constants except disappointments; the betrayals and the dismissals by the people who should have loved her, like her family and Chris and Nick; their rejections made more cruel by the casual way they did it as if she had no feelings. Now Gail smiled widely at Holly because with Holly all those niggles and worries and self-doubts were at thing of the past.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Holly was running late for the award ceremony. As she slipped into the back row of chairs, she caught a glimpse of blonde hair and the blue of a dress uniform. Most of Gail's friends were there, including Andy and Swarek. Holly wasn’t sorry she missed that wedding. Well, apart from the fact that had she attended there was no way Gail would have gone home with Frankie. 

She couldn’t understand what Andy saw in Swarek. In Holly’s experience he was arrogant and impatient, and dismissive if you didn’t give him the results he wanted. Apparently he was the love of Andy’s life. When Chloe described it as a fairytale romance, Holly had to resist the urge to do a Gail and pretend to put her fingers down her throat. 

As the Police Commissioner approached the podium, a sheet of paper in his hands, Holly noticed an officer from 15 – what was her name Anna Roberts, Robins, Robinson that was it – seated in front of her with another officer Holly recognized from 27. There was a whole new batch of Rookies since she left for San Francisco. She became aware that the officer from 27 was speaking.

‘God, she is hot.’

'I know, you don't need to tell me. I doubt she even knows I exist,’ Officer Robinson said.

'But you just worked that case with Detective Peck.'

'Yeah, I didn't have that much to do with her and when she spoke to me it was all business.'

'She is gay, right?'

'Yeah, apparently she and Detective Anderson had a thing, but that's been over for a while.'

'So does she have a girlfriend?

‘I don’t know,’ Robinson shrugged. 

Clearly, Robinson hadn’t been at the Penny to witness her display when Gail returned from undercover, Holly thought.

At that moment, the Commissioner announced Gail’s name. Holly sucked in a breath as she watched Gail stride towards the podium. It was a businesslike stride, one reserved for work and official occasions, but still Holly could detect that swing in the hips. Damn Gail could wear that uniform.

Afterwards Elaine insisted on a photo of the three of them. Elaine was beaming. Was it genuine pride or satisfaction that Gail was fulfilling the ExPecktations? Elaine's relationship with her daughter was a complex thing and Holly felt it quite possible that Gail would spend her lifetime untangling it. As Chloe took the photo, she caught Gail and Holly staring at each other with such love it almost hurt, but in a good way Chloe decided. 

Then they left for the Penny. Elaine begged off, saying she had too much work. Holly offered to buy the first round, figuring it was the best way to ingratiate herself with Gail’s friends. At the bar she again found herself standing behind Robinson and the rookie from 27.

‘She’s surrounded by her friends. I can’t go up there,’ Robinson was saying, ‘but god it’s so long since I’ve had sex I might just go home with anyone who offers tonight.’

‘Don’t be so dramatic, Anna. Just buy her a drink,’ her friend said.

‘I don’t even know what she drinks,’ Robinson whined. ‘I mean I’ve seen her drinking beer and tequila and even whisky. And the other day she was telling Detective Kennedy this hilarious story about once drinking meat cocktails.’

‘Tequila. The most expensive if you can afford it.’ Holly spoke up.

Robinson turned around in confusion. ‘Oh, hi Doctor Stewart,’ she said, sounding uncertain, a blush starting to creep up her neck.

‘Gail likes tequila,’ Holly said.

‘Um, are you a friend of hers?’ the 27 rookie asked. 

‘Actually, her girlfriend,’ Holly replied. Before she could register their reaction to that bit of news, Holly felt an arm snake around her waist and Gail was there and pulling her in for a kiss. 

‘Hi,’ Gail grinned.

‘Hi,’ Holly said.

‘Oh, hey Robinson,’ Gail said, noticing the officer who was looking somewhat stunned. ‘You’ve met Holly, I mean Doctor Stewart, haven’t you.’

The blush had now moved to Robinson’s face. 

‘Holly,’ Holly said, holding out her hand to the officer.

‘Hey, you’ll buy these guys a drink too, won’t you Holly,’ Gail said indicating Robinson and her friend.

‘Gladly,’ Holly said, and Gail leaned in to give her another quick kiss.

Not long after, Holly saw Jen Luck come into the Penny. She threw a sour look in the direction of Gail and her friends and then continued over to the bar where she soon struck up a conversation with Officer Robinson.

Much later, Holly found herself in a booth next to Matt Kennedy. He had produced several pieces of paper from his pocket and was doing some sort of calculation. Then Holly realized what it was. Gail had told her about it.

‘You’re betting on whose going to be the first to sleep with Robinson,’ she said.

‘It’s just harmless fun,’ Matt said defensively, moving the papers away so Holly couldn’t see them.

‘$100 it’s Jen Luck,’ Holly said.

‘Whhat?’ Matt asked in surprise.

‘I want to bet $100 that Robinson goes home with Jen Luck tonight.’

‘Geez, Holly, you’re not betting on this too are you,’ Gail said as she sat down next to Holly, ‘it’s puerile.’

Holly squeezed Gail’s knee and leaned into her. ‘Trust me,’ she whispered softly into Gail’s ear.

‘Jen Luck. No offence, but Robinson’s straight as they come,’ Matt said.

‘Make that $200,’ Holly said.

‘Your loss,’ Matt shook his head. Pulling out a pen, he added Holly’s wager to the list.

‘Ah Matt,’ Gail said sweetly, ‘you might want to take a look at what’s happening at the bar.’

Matt looked across. Jen had linked her hand with Robinson’s and was moving in to kiss her. From this angle it looked ungainly, lumbering even. There was nothing the least bit alluring about the action, but it seemed to work for Robinson because the next moment she was following Luck out of the bar.

‘Cough up, Kennedy,’ Gail chortled gleefully.

‘Fuck, I feel like I’ve just been fleeced,’ Matt said, as he pulled a wad of cash from his pocket. Gail’s eyes went wide. It was hundreds of dollars. 

Holly scooped it up and stood. ‘I’m using this to open a tab at the bar. Matt, you tell the others. Free drinks until the money runs out.’ With that she headed towards the bar, with Gail following after.

‘Wait, wait Holly. What are you doing?’ Gail hissed as she caught up with Holly by the bar, ‘I’m guessing there’s nearly a thousand dollars there. You don’t want to spend it on these losers.’

Holly stopped and turned around.

‘Gail, I have plenty of money. I don’t need it, but an open bar will keep your friends occupied long enough for us to slip out of here unnoticed.’

‘And why would you want to do that, Holly?’

‘Because, as amazing as you look in that uniform, ever since I saw you wearing it at the ceremony all I’ve wanted to do is get you out of it.’

‘Oh,’ Gail said, a little taken aback, ‘I didn’t know the uniform had such an affect on you.’

‘It’s not the uniform, Gail. It’s how you wear it,’ Holly said, her voice low and sultry.

‘Even when we first met and we were just friends, and I was in uniform. Did that do it for you then?’

‘You have no idea, Gail,’ Holly breathed.

‘Oh,’ Gail said, ‘for me it was the glasses and the rambling and the ripostes.’

Holly laughed and Gail grinned back at her.

‘What are we waiting for, Holly? Hand your money over to the bartender and let’s get out of here.’

 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So throughout this story, each time Lisa catches Holly and Gail things are escalating until finally in this chapter she walks in on them having sex. Unlike the time in the kitchen, Lisa can’t pretend she hasn’t seen anything. Anyway, it will be the last time Lisa catches them in flagrante delicto. It was just a little joke I was having at Lisa’s expense – in the RB series her reaction to Holly and Gail kissing was so over the top – the get a room line – I decided she really needed to catch them in the act so that line would really mean something.
> 
> I actually find sex and even kissing hard to write about – not because I’m a prude but it’s really difficult to write about it in an original way. Hopefully, I’ve managed to avoid being clichéd.


	25. Twenty-five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m still going with this story - you could consider this chapter as the start of part two of the story. A huge thanks to everyone who is still sticking with it and leaving comments and kudos and subscribing. 
> 
> As always apologies for the mistakes – I proof it myself which is hard so I do miss things. Also there is quite a bit of detail about an autopsy in this chapter and I won’t pretend to know much about this subject but I’ve done my best to be accurate. If anyone stumbled across the search history on my computer they might wonder.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Rookie Blue or any of the characters, except I suppose the new ones I’ve introduced in this story.
> 
> Hope you enjoy and you know I absolutely love to hear what you think of this so let me know!

Breaking Through: Part Two

Gail watched as Rodney approached where she stood by the street entrance to the pedestrian walkway of the coach terminal. The two new interns, Wilson and Natasha, followed him closely. Wilson was a mousy looking guy and the contrast between he and Natasha couldn’t have been more striking. Even in her tyvek suit, Natasha turned heads. The terminal manager and janitor stood staring with mouths slightly agape and Gail noticed Duncan keenly track Natasha’s progress from the forensic van, which Rodney had parked a little further down the street.

The interns were supposed to spend their first few weeks on the job with Holly, but she was in San Francisco giving evidence in a trial. It was the first time she and Gail had been apart since Holly had returned to Toronto nearly four months ago. Holly had been certain she’d be back in Toronto well before the interns started. It was a straightforward case. In fact the prosecutor was convinced the accused would plea out and Holly thought she’d only be gone for two, maybe three days. Then the defense decided to call in their own forensic expert who questioned Holly’s findings. Two days had turned into twelve. Finally last night a guilty verdict had been brought down and Holly had managed to book a seat on the 7.20am flight out of San Francisco this morning. 

Gail looked at her watch. Three pm. Holly was due to land shortly. She had promised to make Holly dinner and run a relaxing bath and then give her a massage to soothe the tensions of the trial. She’d even bought a vanilla scented bath bomb and the most amazing massage oil. Then there was going to be sex. Lots and lots of sex. Gail had even persuaded Chloe to stay at Dov’s for the night so she and Holly could have the house to themselves. 

The best-laid plans of mice and men and all that, Gail sighed. The janitor just had to notice a rancid smell coming from the bank of lockers lining the narrow walkway that led from terminal to the coach bays, and the terminal manager just had to investigate. There was no way she was getting home in time for dinner or anytime soon after that. She’d already sent a text to Holly saying she couldn’t collect her from the airport.

‘Dr Stewart is going to be pissed she missed this,’ Gail said, as Rodney reached her.

He nodded in agreement. ‘Body in a suitcase. It’s the first time I’ve had one of these.’

‘Yeah, I don’t think Doctor Stewart has ticked that off her bucket list of grisly, bizarre and unusual cases,’ Gail said, making air quotes around the word case.

Rodney gave a little laugh.

‘Yeah, I know bad pun.’ Gail lifted the crime scene tape that had been strung across the entrance and led Rodney about half way down the walkway to where a pink Samsonite suitcase had been placed. It was one of those hard shell ones. Newish. The lid was shut but the two latches, both with inbuilt combination locks, had clearly been forced open.

‘I suspect this won’t be an open and shut case,’ Gail said, as she gestured to the suitcase. The corners of her mouth twitched slightly.

‘You really should pack away those jokes, Detective,’ Chloe said.

‘Well, as you know Detective Price, I’ve always carried a lot of baggage,’ Gail replied and as Chloe groaned, she nodded in the direction of Natasha and the other intern, ‘you got the minions today, Dr Carlowski.’ 

Rodney nodded. Wilson and Natasha had that newbie look that was equal parts apprehension and excitement. As far as Gail knew, this was their first outing to a crime scene since starting their internship a week ago.

‘And you’ve been partnered with Detective Price,’ Rodney said.

‘Yeah. Detective Anderson’s on vacation. She isn’t back for a couple of days,’ Gail explained. 

It had been Oliver’s decision to pair her and Chloe while Frankie was away. When Gail had run into her mother in the corridor at 15 a few days ago, Elaine had said she assumed it was only a temporary arrangement. Then she added, her lips drawn in a thin line, ‘you know my opinion about you and Price being partnered.’ 

The fact was, though, Gail and Chloe worked well together. Chloe was smart and quick and a little quirky. It meant she could follow and interpret Gail’s sometimes unconventional and seemingly haphazard thought trains, and while Gail pretended to hate her bubbliness, in reality Chloe’s positivity was a nice foil for her own tendency towards cynicism.

‘So what have we got here?’ Rodney asked.

‘Janitor noticed a strange odor coming from the locker yesterday. By this afternoon, he decided it smelt like something had died. He got the manager to unlock it and found the suitcase. Idiots opened it up in full view of the public. They thought they’d find an animal.’

‘So they didn’t move it, once they opened it?’

‘No, between them I think they’ve watched enough of CSI to know not to disturb a crime scene.’

Rodney chuckled and then stopped himself.

‘You and Dr Stewart have totally geeked out over all the forensic inaccuracies in that show, haven’t you?’ Gail said, barely able to contain her glee. 

When Rodney didn’t reply, she fixed him with the kind of hard stare she used on perps who refused to confess. Caving, Rodney nodded a little sheepishly.

‘I knew it. I am so totally going to pay Holly out for this.’ Gail said excitedly,  
forgetting for a moment to refer to Holly by her professional title. 

They both did that at work. She was Detective Peck and Holly was Doctor Stewart. It was a small thing but Gail insisted it helped them retain a professional distance in the workplace, well at least when others were present. 

Holly had wholeheartedly agreed that they should absolutely avoid blurring their relationship with work, at least as much as was possible. However, when she found herself tumbling out of Gail’s bed, having spent the night before pressed against her girlfriend’s gloriously naked body, and not an hour later was facing Gail across a crime scene, Holly couldn’t help but feel something of a thrill, an almost illicit delight, that Gail’s formality with her in that moment was just a front, and that she alone was privy to the private Gail. That she knew every inch of Gail’s body and a fair bit about how her mind worked as well. That this gorgeous, unpredictable, snarky, sexy as hell extraordinary woman was her girlfriend. 

Not that Holly had admitted this to Gail. She wasn’t sure why. Gail would probably tease her and tell her she wasn’t trying hard enough to focus on the job. The thing was it was sometimes exceedingly difficult for Holly not to let her mind wander when only a matter of hours before Gail had been pulling her in close and calling out her name as she came over and over. And yep, with Gail multiple orgasms were totally a thing and that knowledge was on its own enough to make Holly smile to herself.

If Rodney noticed Gail’s slip up with Holly’s name he didn’t show it. He was used to the two women moving from formal to more familiar terms of address depending on the situation. Frankly he didn’t know how they managed to sustain it so well. Especially when it was plain to see how crazy in love the two of them were, even if they tried to conceal it. He’d catch the little glances and the private smiles Holly and Gail couldn’t help but exchange when they thought no one was looking.

‘So how long before the scene was secured?’ Rodney asked, keen to move past the admission about CSI. Holly wouldn’t thank him for it. She’d said Gail would mock them mercilessly if she found out they watched the show just to pick it apart.

‘We got lucky. An off duty officer from 27 was picking up his daughter from the Montreal bus. He made the manager clear out the walkway and secured the scene until our guys arrived.’

‘The terminal manger said they sometimes have several thousand passengers through here in a day,’ Chloe added, ‘So I wouldn’t count on getting anything from the walkway.’

‘I guessed as much. Let’s take a look at the suitcase then,’ Rodney said, motioning for the two interns to come closer. He bent over the suitcase and carefully flipped the lid. 

Natasha let out a soft gasp but then leaned in for a closer look. A woman had been folded neatly into the suitcase so she was in a fetal position. She was fully clothed, although shoeless and Gail could make out a tattoo on her left foot. Her back was aligned along one side of the case, her head tucked into a corner with her knees up under her chin. 

A plastic bag had been placed over her head and tied tightly around her neck with what appeared to be a cord from a bathrobe. It was this – the plastic bag – that had made Natasha gasp. More than anything, even the fact of being stuffed in a suitcase – it was this that spoke of the violence of the woman’s death. 

A tangle of black hair hid her face so they couldn’t immediately see a signs of suffocation. Incongruously, the woman’s hands were placed to form a sort of pillow beneath her head. It was such a familiar position of repose that had she not been so unceremoniously crammed in a suitcase with a plastic bag over her head she could have been napping. Her top was pushed up revealing a slightly rounded belly. Three, maybe four months pregnant, Gail guessed. Rodney sighed heavily.

‘Well, we can rule out fare evasion,’ Gail said, but there was no mirth in her voice. ‘This was one journey this victim didn’t want to take.’

‘That’s for sure,’ Chloe agreed.

Just then Gail’s phone rang. She turned away slightly from the group to take the call, and Chloe assumed it was Holly. Even though Gail spoke quietly, the emptiness and unusual quiet of the normally bustling walkway made it impossible not to hear her side of the conversation. 

‘Hey,’ Gail said softly, ‘yeah, I’m going to have to cancel tonight. We’ve caught a case. I’m at the Toronto Coach Terminal with Rodney now.’

She paused for a moment while Holly obviously said something.

‘Interesting?’ Gail relied, ‘you’re not going to believe it.' Gail waited again before speaking. 'No, not a severed head,' she rolled her eyes, 'it's a body in a suitcase.’

Again Gail waited a beat and then gave a little laugh. ‘Okay, I’ll prove it.’ 

With that Gail stepped forward and took a photo of the suitcase. Almost immediately the assembled group heard the whooshing sound as she hit send. Rodney coughed. Natasha looked curious and Wilson’s expression was one of disapproval. Gail noticed none of this. She was too busy looking at her phone but Chloe observed it all and wondered if Wilson was going to make trouble. Gail pocketed the phone and turned her full focus on Rodney.

‘I know you won’t want to commit on time of death until you get back to the morgue, but can you give us a ball park figure?’ she asked.

‘Two, maybe three days. Rigor mortis has passed but from the odor I’d guess decomposition is underway.’

Gail nodded. ‘We’ll need the CCTV footage for this walkway from the last few days. Detective Price, can you ask the terminal manager for that? Anything else you can tell us, Dr Carlowski?’

‘No, not until we do the post mortem, Detective.’

After that Gail and Chloe went to interview the terminal employees. There were 14 counter staff as well as another cleaner and an assistant manager, and the guy who ran a small shop in the terminal selling food and drinks and magazine. None of them had noticed anyone or anything suspicious or even faintly out of the ordinary in the last few days. That was apart from the usual disgruntled passengers frustrated with lengthy wait times or complaining about last minute timetable changes or lost luggage. 

The terminal was built in the 1930s and, despite a renovation nearly 30 years ago, was clearly not large enough for the volume of passengers it now served. The place was jam packed with irritable passengers, queued in endless lines or propped against any available wall space; a lucky few had snagged grimy plastic chairs. Art deco in style, it might once have been quite an impressive building but now it was shabby with neglect and haphazard attempts at modernization. The manager let the Gail and Chloe use his office for the interviews.

'This is the afternoon shift. We're open from 6am to midnight so we’ve got another 36 on the books, including casuals,' he said, ‘and two on the afternoon shift called in sick today.’

'I'll need a list of their names with contact numbers and addresses.' Gail said, thinking she'd have to pull in some uniforms to help conduct the interviews. 'Any chance you'd have a record of all the drivers who have come in and out of the terminal in the last few days.'

'No. The drivers’ schedules are handled by head office. I could get hold of them for you though. You don't think it could be a driver?'

'At this point we can't rule anyone in or out,' Gail explained, thinking it was like looking for a needle in a haystack given the thousands who passed through the terminal each day. 'Hopefully we'll have a better idea once we review the CCTV footage.'

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Holly was waiting in the autopsy suite when Rodney arrived with the two interns in tow.

‘Dr Stewart, you’re back,’ Rodney said. He was not in the least surprised to see his boss, even though she wasn’t expected back at work until the following morning. He’d guessed it was Holly that Gail was speaking to back at the coach terminal.

‘Yes, I came straight here from the airport when I heard, dare I say it, what you’d bagged.’

‘Not you too! Detective Peck’s been regaling us with suitcase related puns all afternoon,’ Rodney shook his head. 

‘I can imagine,’ Holly smiled. 

‘Do all detectives act like at crime scenes?’ Wilson asked. There was a belligerence to his tone that Holly didn’t like very much.

‘Act like what?’ Holly scrunched her face slightly as if not understanding.

‘Apart from the insensitive jokes, Detective Peck took a photo of the victim and sent it to someone she was speaking to on the phone at the crime scene. I did expect the cops to at least have a rudimentary understanding of medical jurisprudence.’

Holly sighed. Dr Wilson Wilson. When Gail heard that she told Holly some parents shouldn’t be allowed to name their own children or at least be forced to get a license to name. 

Holly had burst out laughing and Gail said the comment wasn’t that funny.

‘No, it’s just I expected you to say parents should be forced to get a license to breed.’

‘If that were the case, Holly, I wouldn’t be here,’ Gail retorted. Holly had given her a sympathetic look, knowing the hurt that lay beneath the flippancy.

Now Dr Wilson stood before Holly all puffed up with indignation and waiting for her to respond. To be honest she’d hadn’t been that taken by Dr Wilson. Too much of a stickler for the rules, but Dr Carral had been impressed by his outstanding academic record and was convinced Wilson would loosen up with time. Hard to argue with the boss, though Holly had a sinking feeling that perhaps she should have. She took a calming breath and then chose her words carefully.

‘I appreciate your concern, Dr Wilson but the fact is Detective Peck sent that photo to me. That’s why I’m here for the autopsy.’

Wilson looked surprised at this. Holly tried not to be irritated. After all he was inexperienced and the reality of a crime scene was very different to the theory, and not just because it bore witness to the brutality and violence that some people were capable of. 

Interns were sometimes surprised, even shocked, that crime scenes were not always hushed and somber places; that over a dead body the police and the forensic team could share a joke, swap stories about their kids or the game on the weekend and grumble about the gridlock getting to work. Holly knew all too well that these reminders of the everyday acted as a counterpoint to the gruesome and sometimes depraved things they were forced to see and examine and process at crime scenes. Without this exchange of banalities many of them couldn’t keep doing this job day in day out. 

‘I think you will find that Detective Peck is an extremely dedicated and professional police officer who cares very much about getting justice for victims,’ Holly said, reminding herself that Wilson was just an intern and trying very hard to be patient, ‘and I can assure you she is well-versed in medical jurisprudence.’

As she finished speaking, Holly caught the look of dismay on Rodney’s face. She knew Rodney felt a great sense of loyalty not just to her but also to Gail, with whom he’d somewhat unexpectedly formed a work friendship. As well, Rodney was such a fair-minded and decent man he would probably also feel badly for Wilson, who had unwittingly put his foot in it. And Rodney hated conflict. The thumb incident had made that obvious. 

Natasha was standing to the side of her, so Holly couldn’t see how she was reacting. After that fiasco with Gail that night in the bar when Lisa had dragged Holly along to have drinks with Natasha and her cousin, Holly wasn’t sure what Natasha knew or had figured out about her and Gail’s relationship. She decided it wouldn’t be helpful asking Lisa, who was sure to deliberately say something to make Holly worry. Besides nothing came of Lisa’s flirtation with the cousin so chances were she knew nothing about what Natasha had picked up.

‘So you haven’t had a problem with Detective Peck’s attitude? You’ve worked with her before?’ Wilson persisted.

Holly suppressed a smile at this. ‘Yes, I know Detective Peck very well and no I have had no problems with her work. The gallows humor is a coping mechanism, one that is often used by people like the police and forensic teams who regularly encounter these horrors. Studies have shown this type of humor can help first responders integrate a traumatic event and so allow them to perform their job.’

Wilson didn’t say anything but instead made a strange little movement of his lips as if silently demurring.

‘Now,’ Holly said as the suitcase was wheeled into the suite on a gurney, ‘I suggest we start the autopsy. The sooner we determine what happened to this woman the sooner the police can arrest the sick individual who did this.’

By the time Gail and Chloe arrived at the morgue, Holly and Rodney had extracted the body from the suitcase and the autopsy was well underway. 

‘Couldn’t keep away, Dr Stewart,’ Gail said, somewhat amused and doing a very good job of concealing her delight at seeing her girlfriend.

'Wasn't that your intention when you sent me the photo, Detective Peck.' Holly smiled briefly and then returned her attention to the body. The organs had been removed, including the heart and brain, and Holly was in the process of examining the victim’s neck.

‘Wouldn’t want you to miss the opportunity of unpacking this case, Dr Stewart,’ Gail’s lips quirked faintly, ‘you know that thing people say when their friends go on holidays - is there room for me in your suitcase - maybe the killer took that literally.’

‘I somehow doubt she was a stowaway, Detective Peck,’ Holly said, sounding faintly amused, ‘and I think it might be time to put a lid on your truly awful suitcase puns.’ 

‘They weren’t that bad,’ Gail grumbled, but she wasn’t actually offended, ‘anyway I just thought you’d be curious.’

‘Definitely piqued my curiosity,’ Holly smiled, ‘much to Dr Carlowski’s chagrin.’

‘No, no, happy to share this one,’ Rodney held up his hands in a mock gesture of supplication.

‘The truth is after two weeks hanging around a courthouse I couldn’t wait to do an autopsy.’

‘That’s a tad macabre isn’t doctor,’ Gail had a sly grin, ‘I’m sure there are plenty of other more agreeable things you could be doing to celebrate your return.’

‘Oh no doubt, Detective, no doubt.’ This time Holly smiled directly at Gail. ‘It’s just good to be back at work. That said, I don’t want anyone here thinking I hoped someone would die just so I could perform a post-mortem.’ 

As she finished speaking, Holly glanced across to Wilson, who looked back at her a touch uneasily. Gail followed Holly’s gaze and wondered what that was about. The glance was brief but there was something pointed about it.

‘Okay, Dr La Paige, Dr Wilson’ Holly said, ‘I’m removing the larynx including the hyoid bone, and I’m keeping the tongue attached. What should I be looking for?’

‘Given it appears that the victim was strangled rather than suffocated, would you look to see if the hyoid bone is fractured,’ Natasha was quick to respond.

‘That only occurs in about a third of all cases of strangulation, but bingo! Have a look at this Dr LaPaige. A fractured hyoid bone.’

Natasha smiled and moved next to Holly to take a look. Gail wondered irritably if the intern really needed to get that close to Holly to examine the body. When she thought about it though it was exactly what she had done that first time in the lab with Holly, and that was before she had even twigged she had a thing for the pathologist. It had been as if she was subconsciously drawn to Holly. Given her general discomfort around people, that alone should have been a clue. Gail sighed. She knew she was being irrational about Natasha, but clearly the intern was angling to be teacher’s pet. 

Chloe gave her a small, understanding smile, and Gail had the distinct feeling the newly minted detective knew exactly what was going through her head. Was she that transparent, Gail wondered? Chloe did seem to have some sort of finely attuned sense when it came to other people’s relationships. Maybe that’s what came of being full of sunshine and rainbows and sappiness. Scowling slightly, Gail turned her attention back to the autopsy.

‘What’s the next step?’ Holly was now asking.

‘The superficial and deep musculature must be individually examined for contusion haemorrhage. Then we need to expose the laryngeal skeleton and examine it for fracture,’ Natasha recited, a little smugly if you asked Gail.

‘Very good,’ Holly said, ‘Dr LaPaige, Dr Wilson can you examine the neck musculature and tell me what you see.’

Despite feeling annoyed with Natasha, Gail could see that Holly was an excellent teacher. She alternated between carefully explaining each step and asking the interns what she should do next and why, and then she would supervise as they carried out that procedure. Throughout Holly was unfailingly patient and encouraging. Gail found herself enthralled.

Sometime later, when tissue and other samples had been taken, Holly turned to Gail and Chloe.

‘She definitely died from strangulation rather than suffocation. Even though the plastic bag would have eventually cut off air supply, she was dead before that happened. As well as the marks left by the cord being tightened around the victim’s neck and the hyoid bone fracture, hemorrhages in the strap muscles, under the skin, in the tissue around the trachea and larynx, and in the larynx and laryngeal structure itself all indicate strangulation.’

Gail smiled to herself. Holly couldn’t help but get her nerd on. Really, she could just say it was strangulation and they’d believe her, but Holly liked to walk you through the autopsy. ‘The body is a witness to the crime,’ she had told Gail, ‘the significance of something we discover during the autopsy may only become apparent in the course of your investigation, and if I’m not thorough in explaining my findings chances are you could miss that connection.’ Holly was right of course. It was one of the things that made her so damn good at her job.

‘We’ll know more once the toxicology results are in,’ Holly was saying, ‘but I suspect she was drugged before the plastic bag was put over her head.’

‘Why is that?’ Chloe asked.

‘There are no signs of a struggle. Nothing to suggest she tried to fight off her killer and she didn’t claw at her neck to try and loosen the cord or pull off the plastic bag.’

‘Aren't plastic bags sometimes used in cases of autoerotic asphyxiation?’ Gail asked.

‘Yes,’ Holly said, ‘but hypoxyphilia, as it’s otherwise known, only involves one person, hence auto, and evidence suggests it’s a practice confined mainly to men. However, it is not unknown for couples to use partial asphyxiation to heighten sexual experience – one partner strangles the other or puts a plastic bag over their head. When you rob your brain of oxygen you can experience a sort of high - euphoria, dizziness, even lowered inhibition.’

Gail made a face. ‘How come you know so much about it?’

‘My job, detective,’ Holly said drily, ‘and I had a case involving this in San Francisco. With this kind of sexual paraphilia it’s easy to go too far. It can also trigger a heart attack, so even if the partner loosens the tie or removes the plastic bag, it can be too late. But we’re not looking at anything like that here. She was pregnant but there are no signs of recent sexual activity, which also means we can probably rule out sexual assault. However, she has a bruise across her left cheek. Consistent with being slapped very hard.’

‘So that happened before she died?’ Gail asked.

‘Yes, bruises are caused by blood leaking from injured blood vessels so it is very difficult to produce a contusion on a corpse.’ 

‘Because the blood has stopped flowing,’ Gail finished for Holly.

‘Exactly.’

‘So if the killer strangled her, what was the purpose of the plastic bag?’ Gail asked.

‘Perhaps the killer planned to suffocate her, but once they put the cord around the victim’s neck to tie the bag they decided it would be quicker or just as easy to strangle her.’

‘If she was drugged, that means it was probably pre-meditated?’ Chloe asked.

‘Most likely,’ Holly agreed.

‘And we could be looking at a killer who is either male or female?’ Chloe said

‘Yes, particularly if she was incapacitated. However, while she didn’t weigh much ¬ – 55 kilos – you’d still need to be fairly strong to lift the suitcase into the locker, especially as I believe the locker was in the second row up.’

Gail and Chloe nodded.

‘Strangulation isn’t usually the go to method in premeditated murders. It normally occurs when people are in a frenzy or overcome by uncontrollable rage,’ Gail said, ‘so is it possible that the killer intended suffocating her, but then, I don’t know, something about the victim triggered something in the killer, made them rageful enough to strangle her instead?’

‘I wouldn’t rule it out,’ Holly said, ‘strangulation, as you know, involves a great deal of force. Someone was angry enough with the victim to slap her before she died. Maybe that same person killed her.’

‘Hmm,’ Gail said as if this had given her food for thought, ‘So how long ago was she killed?’

‘Rigor mortis has subsided and the body is in the first stage of putrefaction, so I’d say two to three days. The body temperature was the same as the ambient temperature in the terminal walkway so my guess is she was in the locker for a at least a day before she was discovered.’

‘So she would have been placed in the suitcase not long after she was killed?’ Chloe asked.

‘Yes, the lividity, the way the blood has pooled in the body, indicates that.’

‘Any identifying marks, besides the tattoo.’ Gail gestured to an intricate design that covered most of upper side of the victim’s left foot. 

The tattoo was circular in shape and pleasing symmetrical, like something you might see in a kaleidoscope. At the very center of the tattoo was an eye surrounded by ever widening geometrical patterns, a little like petals fanning out, each layer with its own elaborate detailing.

‘You noticed that,’ Holly said, ‘it reminds me of Mehndi, the henna tattoos Indian and Pakistani brides get before their wedding. Although in this case the tattoo is permanent. My guess is her ethnicity is either Indian or Pakistani, so the tattoo fits.’

‘It looks like a mandala. In Hindu and Buddhist symbolism the mandala represents the universe,’ Gail said. 

She had moved to examine the tattoo more closely and so missed the look of surprise that passed between Wilson and Natasha. Holly, however, caught it and was not impressed. Was it so remarkable that a detective would be smart and knowledgeable? Was she extra sensitive because it was Gail? Still, she made a note to instill in Wilson and Natasha the importance of maintaining a good working relationship with the police.

‘Well, hopefully the tattoo and her ethnicity will help in identifying her, especially if she’s been reported missing,’ Holly said, focusing her attention back on Gail. ‘Apart from that she has an old appendix scar. My guess is it was taken out in her early teens. We’ll see if we can get a match with her dental records.’

Gail nodded.

‘When do you expect to have the toxicology report?’

‘We’ve sent them to the toxicologist but it’s late now so not until tomorrow. We also found dog hairs on the victim’s clothing so we’ll test them. Perhaps she or the killer owns a dog. We’ll also see what we can get from the cord and the plastic bag and the suitcase itself. If we’re lucky we might get prints.’ 

After that Holly told Wilson and Natasha to take a break. She estimated it would take at least another hour to complete the autopsy. Rodney and the lab tech went to one corner of the room and began to meticulously record all the samples that had been taken from the body, and to double check that each had been labeled correctly with the autopsy identification number, the date and time the specimen was collected and from which part of the body. Gail and Chloe hung back with Holly after the interns left. 

‘Any indication the victim was married?’ Gail asked.

No,’ Holly shook her head, ‘she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring and there was no mark where one might have been. Why? Do you think it’s important?’

‘It may not be,’ Gail chewed at her lip, ‘I’m just trying to get a full picture.’

‘Except that husbands are usually the first suspects we look at,’ Chloe said.

‘Well, if you listened to Frankie husbands and wives would be the only suspects we considered,’ Gail gave a dismissive laugh. 

‘Has that got something to do with Frankie’s allergy to relationships?’ Holly asked.

‘You really are very perceptive Dr Stewart,’ Gail said, unable to stop the flirtatious edge in her voice.

‘Frankie of course has a theory that most couples are ready to murder one another within a year of getting married,’ Chloe said.

‘And then one day one of them wakes up and realizes they don’t like the way their spouse chews their food or how they always leave the lid off the toothpaste, and it will be enough to send them into a homicidal frenzy.’ 

‘Okay then,’ Holly said, clearly amused, ‘so based on Detective Anderson’s theory, the key to a long life is to avoid marriage.’

‘Something like that,’ Gail said, ‘so now we’ve got that figured out, Chloe and I better head back to 15. Work out where to go from here.’

Exiting the room, Gail spied Wilson and Natasha by the snack machine in the middle of the corridor. The interns were caught up in an animated discussion and so didn’t observe the detectives leave the autopsy suite or hear them approach.

‘You’re a brave man, Wilson. Complaining about Detective Peck,’ Natasha was saying.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, remember the Superintendent we met the other day. The scary one.’

Wilson nodded. The Superintendent had made him feel rather small and inconsequential and he stumbled badly when she’d barked out a simple question about medical jurisprudence.

‘What’s she got to do with, oh of course Superintendent Peck,’ he said, as he remembered her name.

‘Only Detective Peck’s mother. There are Pecks throughout the force in Toronto. They are like police royalty. A few years back a couple of them were booted out for disgrace but apparently the Pecks are still a big deal around here.’

‘That makes it even worse. Detective Peck shouldn’t get away with that behavior just because of her connections,’ Wilson said primly, ‘I would have expected a homicide detective to take her job more seriously.’

‘Wilson you’re over reacting. It’s like Dr Stewart said – gallows humor – Detective Peck seemed to know what she was doing and from the questions she asked during the autopsy it’s clear she knows a lot about forensics. So I’d just let it go.’

When Wilson didn’t say anything, Natasha nudged him gently in the arm.

‘You’ve got to admit Detective Peck is hot,’ she said.

‘So we don’t hold people to the same standards just because they’re attractive.’

'You need to lighten up, Wilson,’ Natasha said good-naturedly. ‘Anyway if Dr Stewart took your complaint further it would probably go to Superintendent Peck. How do you think that’s going to play out?'

'So you’re saying the complaint would go nowhere. That sounds a lot like corruption. At the very least nepotism.'

'No, I didn't say that. It's just would you want to put someone as formidable as Superintendent Peck offside. I mean you want a career in forensics after this internship, don't you?’

Wilson nodded. He finally made his selection and retrieved a packet of chips from the machine. Natasha fed some coins into the slot and continued to speak as she picked out a health bar.

'Anyway, well, I probably shouldn't tell you this. It's gossip, but Detective Peck and Dr Stewart might have, or at least used to have,’ Natasha abruptly stopped talking as she and Wilson turned and came face to face with Gail and Chloe.

‘Dr Wilson, Dr LaPaige,’ Gail said sweetly, pronouncing LaPaige with a faultless French accent, ‘it’s your first week at the morgue isn’t it?’

The two interns nodded dumbly.

‘A word of advice. It pays not to jump to conclusions.’ Gail smiled. It was big and wide and entirely disingenuous. If either Wilson or Natasha thought for an instant that Gail was being friendly, the cool blue of her eyes told them otherwise. She gave a brusque nod and continued down the corridor. 

‘Well, I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of you both, with this case and all,’ Chloe said brightly, before she too took her leave.

‘Shit,’ Wilson exhaled a tightly held breath once Chloe was gone, ‘I think I just killed my career.’  
………………………………………………………………………………………..

When they got to the car, Chloe plucked the keys from Gail’s hand.

‘What the fuck, Price,’ Gail snarled.

‘I’m driving.’ Chloe said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

‘Jeez, Price I’m okay. I’m not bothered by what those idiots said,’ Gail grumbled, but when she got into the passenger side of the car she punched the dashboard and then winced. ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid,’ Gail said as she examined her reddened knuckles.

‘To be fair it was just Dr Wilson who was acting like a tool.’

‘What did I ever do to him? He wants to lodge a complaint about me because he dislikes my jokes.’

‘From what Natasha was saying, it sounds like Holly set him straight,’ Chloe said gently.

‘Fuck I hate being a Peck sometimes,’ Gail said bitterly, choosing to ignore Chloe’s reassuring words, ‘no matter what I do someone always assumes I’m getting special treatment because of my last name, that or I’m corrupt.’

‘Gail, people who work with you know that’s not true.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail said doubtfully, ‘and fuck I hate nosey interns. I need to change my last name. Maybe I should marry Holly and lose the Peck surname.’

Chloe laughed.

‘Whoa, that’s real romantic Gail. I can just imagine the proposal. I want to marry you so I can change my last name and stop nosey interns gossiping about me. I can really see Holly falling for that.’

Gail didn’t say anything, but sunk into her seat, her arms crossed tightly and her expression sour.

‘Besides, there is a major flaw in that plan. Aren’t the nosey interns going to gossip even more if there is a Detective Stewart as well as a Doctor Stewart.’

‘Humph, I thought you were meant to be the starry eyed champion of marriage.’

‘Could you see yourself marrying Holly?’ Chloe asked, suddenly serious.

‘We are not doing this Chloe. I am not sharing. I hate nosey colleagues as much as I hate nosy interns,’ Gail screwed up her face, ‘Anyway, I swore off marriage after Nick. It’s not for me.’

‘But what if marriage is for Holly. What if she wants to get married.’

‘Um,’ Gail shook her head as if it were all too much to take in. ‘We’re still just dating, it’s not – ‘Gail waved her hand about, clearly floundering for what to say next.

‘Don’t say it’s not serious because Gail I’ve never seen you so serious about anyone ever.’

‘It’s just, I dunno Price, why are you asking me all these questions? You and Dov have been a thing for much longer than me and Holly and I don’t see you two getting married in a hurry.’

‘Doesn’t mean it won’t happen someday,’ Chloe shrugged, ‘anyway I’m not suggesting you run out and propose to Holly right now. I just wondered if that was something you’d considered.’

‘Chloe, I may have let you live in my house for the past year, but that does not mean we have reached a stage where we do girly talk and share our innermost thoughts and secrets. And don’t take it personally, I don’t do girly talk with anyone.’

‘Oh, I know that Gail,’ Chloe said cheerfully, as she swung the car into the parking lot at 15.

‘Wait, why do you assume it will be me who proposes?’ Gail asked. 

Honestly, Gail hadn’t considered that. That she’d be the one doing the asking. She didn’t even know if Holly wanted to get married. It wasn’t something they’d discussed. I mean they’d talked about a future together and even kids one day, but it hadn’t even occurred to Gail that Holly might have factored marriage into the equation. Their relationship was going well, something Gail hardly dare admit, afraid that it might jinx it, and then what if something big like marriage threw all that off kilter. 

Marriage certainly put an end to her and Nick. Although in hindsight that was a very good thing, Gail decided. For a brief moment she speculated about what would have happened if she had been married to Nick when she met Holly. Would she have ignored the obvious attraction to Holly? Nope, impossible. Anyway, she and Nick wouldn’t have lasted that long.

‘So you have thought about it,’ Chloe teased, amused by the look of panic that crossed Gail’s face and well aware she’d just sent Gail’s brain whirring in all sorts of crazy directions. Really, for all Gail’s apparent brashness, it was very easy to disconcert her.

‘No,’ Gail said adamantly, getting out of the car. ‘We’ve got work to do so enough probing Price. And for the record I won’t be asking you to be my bridesmaid.’

‘Uh huh, you have so thought about this,’ Chloe said, dancing away from the car before Gail could deny it, ‘and Gail, if you and Holly think that whole Detective Doctor routine is fooling anyone who doesn’t know about you two, you’re kidding yourselves.’

‘What? Price, what do you mean?’ Gail said, but Chloe had already disappeared into the station. Shit, were she and Holly that obvious. Gail had believed they were doing a pretty good job of behaving professionally at work. Was Price trying to get a rise out of her? Surely not, Gail decided, that wasn’t really something Chloe would normally do, not on purpose anyway.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

There were no matches in the missing persons database. That would have been too easy, Gail thought. She and Chloe were at their desks. The detective pen was quiet at this hour. The night shift guys were conversing with a couple of uniforms, deciding if they should act on a tipoff about a drug shipment. The tip off had come from a gangbanger the uniforms had arrested for assault. Was the information solid, the detectives wanted to know, or was the gangbanger trying to worm his way out of a charge.

‘What now?’ Chloe asked, when their search of the database proved fruitless.

'We need to review the CCTV footage,' Gail decided, 'before we do anything else.'

'That's three days of footage,' Chloe pointed out, 'we'll be here all night.'

'Holly said the body was in the early stages of putrefaction and the janitor first noticed the smell coming from that locker yesterday afternoon. That means the suitcase was definitely there yesterday,' Gail said, apparently ignoring Chloe, 'so we just need to backtrack from yesterday afternoon.’

‘That’s still two days of footage.’

‘Not necessarily. I know the plastic bag suggests the murder was premeditated but did the killer plan to dump the victim at the bus terminal? That part of the crime doesn’t feel like it was really well thought out.’

‘True,’ Chloe agreed.

‘So what if after murdering her, the killer, in a panic, shoves the body into a suitcase and then has to figure out how to dispose of it. It might have taken a few hours, even a day for them to decide how to do that. Which narrows it down considerably. I think the first thing we should do is look at the 24 hours before the janitor noticed the smell.’

‘Okay,’ Chloe said, ‘I guess it’s possible the killer put the body in a suitcase in order to remove her from the crime scene without being noticed. They may have had to wait for an opportune moment.’

‘Good point,’ Gail nodded, ‘a suitcase is a great way to hide a body from nosey neighbors or even flat mates.’

Gail and Chloe spent the next two hours reviewing the footage. ‘Thank God there’s a fast forward button’ Gail declared after the first hour, but still they were both feeling stiff and fatigued. They’d been on shift since 8 that morning and it was now close to 10 pm.

‘I dunno Gail, maybe we should pick this up in the morning when we’re fresher,’ Chloe suggested.

‘Just ten more minutes,’ Gail insisted stubbornly, leaning forward to get a closer look at the screen. 

They didn’t need ten minutes. They didn’t even need two. Literally only a moment passed before a figure appeared on the screen, wheeling a pink suitcase. He came from the street end of the walkway. From height and build, Gail guessed it was a man, although he was wearing a bulky jacket and his face was obscured by a hoody. He stopped in front of a screen built into the bank of lockers, but kept his body angled away from the camera so Gail and Chloe still couldn’t make out his face. Then he made a selection on the locker screen and fed coins into a slot, before wheeling the suitcase back in the direction he had come until he reached the assigned locker. He lifted the suitcase up and into the locker.

‘Bingo!’ Gail said excitedly, pausing the footage.

‘Bingo?’ Chloe had to laugh. It wasn’t an expression she’d heard Gail use before.

‘Oh alright, alright,’ Gail colored slightly, ‘I’ve been hanging out with Holly too much. Now let’s see if this guy shows his face.’ She pressed play but the man kept on walking towards the street exit.

‘Turn around, turn around,’ Chloe intoned, but the man kept didn’t look back and then he was through the doors and out on the street.

‘Damn,’ Gail said. She squinted at the time code on the screen. ’10.05 am yesterday.’ She rewound the video so they could take another look.

‘It definitely looks like a man,’ Chloe said and Gail nodded. ‘Have a look at his trousers. Aren’t they the same as the ones worn by the bus drivers. Grey with the single thin blue stripe.’

‘God, you’re right, Chloe.’ 

‘That may be why he was so careful not to show his face. If he’s familiar with the terminal, chances are he would know about the camera.’

‘Okay, tomorrow we need to see if there are CCTV cameras on the street. Maybe we can catch him coming in and out of the building. We’re going to need to go through all the footage from inside the terminal as well. The manager said they had surveillance cameras in the bus bays so we’ll need that too.’

Chloe groaned at the thought. And sunk her head on the desk.

‘Don’t worry,’ Gail grinned like a child who'd been given a lollipop, ‘that’s what we have uniforms for. I’ll get a couple of them to sift through the footage.’

Chloe immediately brightened.

‘Gail, the pink suitcase. I don’t want to stereotype but it’s pretty unusual for a guy to have a suitcase that color. Could it belong to the victim? And if so, are we looking at someone close to home, like the killer’s wife.’

‘Maybe,’ Gail stood, ‘let’s finish up for tonight. I just need to put a request in for some uniforms to help us tomorrow, then we can head home.’

After submitting the request for more officers, Gail made her way back to the detective’s pen. This was not how she had thought her evening would go. Still, even if she hadn’t been able to spend very much of it with Holly, at least Holly was back. Gail hadn’t anticipated just how much she’d miss her girlfriend. It was almost like a physical ache. She’d never experienced anything like that with her previous partners. In fact whenever they went away she was always grateful for the space, but not with Holly. 

No, Holly's absence was keenly felt. And it wasn't just the sex, although God she'd missed that. It was having someone around who totally got her, and if for some reason Holly didn't understand she would patiently get Gail to explain until she did. Someone who, when needed, so nicely called Gail out on her shit. Someone who could see and even cherish the vulnerabilities that lay beneath her snark. Others had dismissed Gail as cold and unfeeling and so decided she wouldn't care if they stomped on her heart, but Holly knew otherwise. With Holly, Gail felt as if her heart was safeguarded, treasured even, and that Holly actually put her first. It dawned on Gail then that Holly found happiness in making her happy. 

Every time Gail was separated from Holly she wondered anew at the depth of her own feelings for Holly. They never ran out of things to talk about, even if they did sometimes disagree, and quite often when they talked they were so absorbed, so captivated by the other, they lost all track of time, and Gail had never done that with anyone else. Being with Holly was just easy, there was no other word for it, Gail acknowledged with some surprise because she certainly hadn't been able to say that about any other relationship. It surprised Gail too how often she found herself day dreaming about Holly and that smile which alone was enough to make her feel warm and safe and happy and loved, oh so loved. She was someone, Gail realised with a jolt, who she wished would stick around forever. She had most definitely never felt that way about anyone else either. 

As she reached the end of the corridor, Gail heard her name being called out. She’d recognize that voice anywhere. Turning she saw Holly walking steadily towards her, a huge smile on her face, and Gail couldn’t help beaming back. 

‘What are you doing here, Holly? Courier sick again?’ Gail smirked.

Without a word, Holly took Gail by the hand and drew her through an open door and into the observation side of an interview room. Gail had a flash of that first time she had kissed Holly, when the pathologist had come to the station in a panic after she’d heard that some officers had been shot at.

Once in the room, Holly pulled the door shut and pushed Gail up against the wall, immediately moving to kiss her. Clearly she wasn’t the only one who missed her girlfriend, Gail thought, as the kiss intensified. She moved one hand to Holly’s cheek and the other just under her shirt to the small of her back, delighting in the smooth feel of her skin, breathing in that familiar and intoxicating smell that was uniquely Holly. Holly moaned and pressed against Gail, her own hand tugging at the front of Gail’s shirt and then shifting under it, tracing a path up along the plane of her stomach to her breast. Gail kissed Holly harder which only served to spur Holly on just as Gail knew it would.

God, Gail thought, if they didn’t stop soon they’d just have to have sex right here in this room. Which was not a good idea, not at work, not with Chloe down the corridor and any number of officers milling around, the sensible part of her brain, which remarkably was still working, told her. Gail was about to pull back, when Holly moved her hand to the top of her jeans, popping the button and pulling the zip down, and then pushed her fingers in to cup Gail’s center. Gail gasped and all rational thought fled. 

Then suddenly the room seemed to be flooded with light. For a moment Gail thought they had been discovered but then with relief she realized the light was coming through the glass from the interview room. She could see one of the detectives, who’d earlier been discussing the gangbanger’s tipoff, handcuffing a suspect to the table.

‘We need to get out of here,’ Gail said, a touch of urgency in her voice. 

Holly nodded and leaned in to zip Gail’s jeans back up and fasten the button, pressing her hand lightly against Gail as she did so. Gail exhaled sharply.

‘Not helping, Holly,’ she said as Holly grinned somewhat wickedly, ‘so what are you doing here, apart from a booty call?’

‘I need a ride home. I went straight to the morgue from the airport so I don’t have my car. I thought you might oblige,’ Holly explained, taking a step back from Gail.

‘Well,’ Gail pretended to consider for a moment, ‘only if we can take up where we just left off.’

‘Oh that’s a given,’ Holly said, ‘so Peck unless you want the entire station to hear you screaming out my name, I suggest you take me home right now.’

Holly found Gail’s reaction to this suggestion endearingly comical. First her eyes widened for a moment at the thought of her colleagues overhearing her having sex with Holly and then almost immediately she started nodding enthusiastically at Holly’s suggestion she take her home. This time it was Gail who took Holly’s hand and led her out of the room.


	26. Twenty-six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….
> 
> Sorry I'm updating this later than I said I would. It wasn't from lack of trying. It is another long chapter so that might make up for it :)
> 
> Thank you to the people who continue to read,bookmark, subscribe and leave kudos and comments. It is so lovely when people take the time to leave a comment. I always love to hear what you think! It definitely provides incentive to keep writing.
> 
> Apologies for mistakes - I've done my best to proof this.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this.

By the time they left the station it was late and Gail didn't actually have the heart to make Chloe go to Dov's place. When she and Holly had appeared in the detectives' pen, Chloe had given them a meaningful look as if she knew exactly what they'd been up to in the interrogation room. It flustered Gail a little and she stammered something out about finding Holly in the corridor and how she needed a ride home, which only seemed to increase the knowing expression on Chloe's face.

'Courier sick?' Chloe inquired innocently.

Gail reddened, cursing her fair skin and the fact that she'd told Chloe about that one night when Chloe got her drunk on apple schnapps of all things. They were already three sheets to the wind, as Chloe so quaintly termed it, when Gail, still sober enough to use her phone, decided to google cocktails that could be made with schnapps. Her delight, when she stumbled across one called 'Drunk in the Graveyard', was immense. She had that huge grin on her face like a child discovering something for the first time, that mixture of eagerness and glee that, even in her inebriated state, had a guilelessness to it that made it impossible to resist. And like a child Gail insisted they make the cocktail at once, in fact wouldn't let it go until Chloe had agreed.

Drunk in the Graveyard consisted of apple schnapps, blueberry schnapps, vodka and rum and a bunch of exotic liquors as well as cranberry and orange juices. Although the way Gail made it, it was mostly alcohol with a bit of juice splashed into the mix. It had necessitated a rather unsteady trip to the liquor shop, which fortunately was walking distance from Gail's house, particularly as a good amount of schnapps had already been consumed. It was when they were both single. Chloe recently separated from Dov and nursing a broken heart and Gail certain she would never see the love of her life again. Which is how, now well and truly drunk, she had described Holly. Chloe had beamed and then made some weird little clucking noises of sympathy before clapping her hands together and saying 'I knew you two where meant to be together'.

When Gail woke in the morning, her head pounding from a monster hangover and her mouth dry and tasting bitter and grimy like an ashtray, even though she didn't smoke, in fact hated smoking, she dimly recalled her confession to Chloe about the interrogation room kisses. Worse still, she was fairly certain she'd spent a great deal of the remainder of the night saying 'I fucking hate San Francisco' or variations of that. Groaning, Gail had buried her head under her pillow. She just hoped Chloe was too drunk to remember. When Chloe didn't mention anything over the next couple of days, Gail assumed she was safe. Still she had a distinct memory of Chloe gushing 'oh, how romantic', when she'd got to the bit about Holly saying the courier was sick. Clearly Chloe had saved that particular tidbit for a special occasion when she could cause Gail maximum embarrassment.

However, Holly laughed at Chloe's comment, completely unperturbed. Gail realized that shouldn't surprise her. She guessed exchanging confidences with friends wasn't unusual for Holly. Besides, it was better that Chloe thought they were just kissing in the interrogation room than doing what Holly clearly had in mind. Since they had got back together, nothing much seemed to faze Holly, except if Gail was in danger and hadn't that always been the case. Holly was happy a lot of the time and Gail found it infectious, which was another novel thing to chalk up to this relationship.

As Gail reasoned this all through, Holly started asking Chloe regular questions about how it felt to be out of uniform and how the review of the surveillance footage was going and became quite excited when she heard they had spotted the killer.

'Well, unless it's some guy who's been duped into dumping the suitcase,' Gail said, 'but from the way he's hiding his face I'd say it's the killer and he knows he's on camera.'

Holly had insisted on seeing the footage then. After viewing it the first time with Gail and Chloe pointing out when the killer came into the frame, and how you could tell from his build and the way he walked that he was male, how his trousers were the same as the ones worn by the bus drivers, and outlining Chloe's theory about the pink suitcase, Holly asked to watch it a second time without interruption. On the third viewing she paused the video as the man hefted the suitcase into the locker.

'Look,' she said, 'he's wearing gloves.'

'Damn, so he is,' Gail said, 'you're probably not going to get any fingerprints off that suitcase.'

Holly shook her head.

'He's got that hood pulled down so far his face is almost completely hidden. You can't even tell his ethnicity.'

'Our media unit has been fielding calls about this all afternoon,' Gail said, 'I'm in half a mind to release this footage to the media. See if anyone in the terminal noticed him.'

'Maybe you should,' Holly said.

'And be inundated with thousands of calls from idiots who weren't even in the vicinity of the terminal when the killer dumped the bag, but a year ago put their Aunt Betsy on the bus to Montreal and thought there were some shady types hanging about. And it's probably nothing, but just in case they thought we should know, because you never know. After that they'll ask if there's a reward for providing information. And then there are the ones who'll claim to have been at the terminal two days ago and to have seen the killer, even spoken to him. It will all sound quite plausible until we check out their story and find that they were actually in a session with their therapist discussing their delusional disorder.'

Holly chuckled. 'You could have just said no, Gail.'

A small smile indicated that Gail got the reference to that day in the lab when Christian was missing.

'It's hard to get the personnel for something like that. We usually only do it as a last resort if none of our other leads pan out,' Chloe explained.

'But we can show this footage to the staff at the terminal see if they recognize him,' Gail added, 'which they may well do if he's a bus driver.'

'Wait, if this guy was so careful to hide his face, why wear those pants? They immediately identify him as a driver,' Holly pointed out.

'Unless, the pants are a disguise to throw us off,' Chloe suggested.

'Nah, I still think nothing about this feels that thought through,' Gail said, 'what if he kills the victim, panics about what to do because he's due at work and so has the bright idea of stuffing her in a suitcase and leaving it in a locker. Then he gets on a bus and drives out of there. And he had to wear his uniform because there wasn't enough time to change.'

'It's possible,' Chloe conceded, 'that means we need to look at drivers who clocked on not long after the body was dumped.'

'Yep, that would be a good place to start.'

'What if there was some urgency to get rid of the body,' Holly said, 'some of those bus drivers travel long distances and are on the road for several days. What if he couldn't risk leaving the body at the crime scene, especially if he was scheduled to be on the road for sometime.'

'Of course,' Gail said excitedly, 'that could narrow the search even more. We need to look at drivers rostered to be away from Toronto overnight or longer.'

'Maybe the killer even planned on collecting the suitcase on his return and finding a better place to dump the body,' Holly suggested.

'That's possible too,' Gail said, 'the terminal manger had to override the locker to open it. The locker wasn't due to expire for another 22 hours. We need to look at drivers who were due back at the terminal before the locker was due to expire. So roughly midday tomorrow.'

'Is it worth checking the surveillance footage,' Chloe said, 'see if the killer comes back to retrieve the suitcase.'

'Yeah, but this has been all over the news and the crime scene tape is still blocking off the walkway. I doubt he'd risk coming back,' Gail said and then yawned.

'We should get you home,' Holly said softly. Standing, she reached out her hand to pull Gail up.

Which is how the three of them found themselves sitting around Gail's kitchen table drinking chamomile tea.

'It will help us sleep and switch off, stop the brain ticking over,' Chloe said as she placed the cups in front of them.

Holly had nodded in agreement.

'Hippies,' Gail couldn't stop herself saying.

Holly had given her that lopsided smile and then of course Gail had to lean across and kiss her, even though Price was there. It was just on the lips but Gail lingered long enough for it to be somewhat more than chaste. See how the Disney Princess likes that, she thought. However when she leaned back in her chair, Gail saw that Chloe was beaming at them like a benevolent ruler watching over her subjects.

'What?' Gail demanded.

'Nothing,' Chloe shrugged her shoulders, but then couldn't hold back, 'you're just so cute.'

Holly stifled a laugh and Gail scowled.

'Hippies,' she said again, 'and I'm not cute, Price.'

This time both Chloe and Holly laughed indulgently.

'Yeah, Gail you're totally bad ass.'

'Definitely,' Holly agreed, taking Gail's hand. It was then that she noticed the bruising on Gail's knuckles. 'Oh my god, Gail. What have you done to your hand?' Holly's face was creased with concern.

'Nothing.' Gail shrugged and tried to pull her hand away, but Holly wouldn't let her.

'It's quite red and swollen,' Holly said as she began to examine the hand carefully. 'How did this happen?' Her voice was firm but gentle.

'It was nothing,' Gail said dismissively.

'Gail,' Holly said warningly.

'Oh, alright. It came in contact with the glove compartment,' Gail huffed.

Holly narrowed her eyes, clearly not satisfied with this explanation.

'We overheard the interns talking about Gail and her professionalism. Dr Wilson made some assumptions about the Peck name,' Chloe supplied.

'The jackass,' Holly said, her lips drawn in an angry line. She turned back to Gail and her expression immediately softened, 'I'm sorry honey. I did talk to him. I hoped he'd let it go.'

Gail shrugged again, but Holly could tell she wasn't as an unaffected by Wilson as she was trying to make out. Well, the bruised hand was proof of that.

'We need to get some ice on this.'

'Isn't it too late,' Gail said.

'No, anyway I'm invested in keeping these hands in good shape,' Holly smiled and brought the injured hand to her lips and kissed it softly.

'Holly,' Gail hissed, making exaggerated eye movements in Chloe's direction.

'Please, Gail,' Chloe said, handing Holly an ice pack she had retrieved from the freezer, 'I'm so shocked.'

Gail rolled her eyes.

'So did anything happen at the scene to get Wilson so out of sorts?' Holly asked, as she placed the ice pack across Gail's knuckles.

'Nope,' Gail said with finality.

'He heard, well we all heard, Gail speaking to you. And then she took the photo and sent it to you. He seemed unhappy about that. I guess it could have looked like Gail was talking to someone unconnected to the case. There was a fair amount of flirtatious banter on Gail's end.'

'I was not flirting,' Gail said, sounding a tiny bit outraged at the suggestion, 'I was just explaining why I had to cancel our plans.'

'It wasn't exactly the way you'd speak to a colleague.'

'I often banter playfully with the people I work with,' Gail insisted.

'Uh, no you don't Gail,' Holly said, giving her a lopsided smile, 'at least I've never you heard you speak to your colleagues that way'

'Oh whatever, I guess so,' Gail flapped her hand, as if to move on from the topic.

Holly smiled again. Gail really was quite adorable when forced to concede a point. 'Wilson overreacted,' Holly said, 'he's been here a week. He should ask questions before jumping to conclusions.'

'Exactly what I told him.'

'Gail you didn't, uh, you spoke to him about this?' Holly said, imagining all the ways Gail would have torn strips off Wilson and thinking it a miracle that the intern was still in one piece after Gail left the morgue.

'Holly why are you looking at me like that? I was courteous.'

'In that sickly sweet deadly assassin way of hers,' Chloe said.

Gail rolled her eyes again. 'Is he going to be a problem?' she asked.

'God, I hope not.' This time it was Holly who yawned and Gail suggested it was time to call it a night.

Despite Holly's amorous intent in the interrogation room, by the time they made it to bed they were too exhausted to do anything other than pull each other close. Yet in that moment the presence of the other was enough. Gail relished the feeling, the comforting weight of Holly curled around her, one arm circling her waist and their legs entwined.

For a moment Gail couldn't decide where her body ended and Holly's began. It was like an invisible charge flowed between them. This was an entirely new feeling for her. Pecks were, after all supposed to be entirely self-reliant. It wasn't that she and Holly were suddenly like one person, somehow blurred. No, they were still quite distinct and yet there was this synergy that before Holly would have freaked Gail out. Made her jump out of that tree. Damn, Gail thought, why do I keep using that stupid analogy?

As Holly pulled her closer, Gail inhaled that scent that was so distinctively Holly. That mix of cinnamon and vanilla and something she couldn't quite pinpoint, but which was heady and piquant and full of promise. Enticing yet somehow soothing. It settled over Gail and with it a calm, a sense of rightness, as if order had been returned to her world.

Gail had never been particularly attracted to the smell of the men she'd been with. She hadn't minded it. Just it wasn't this. With women it was different. Not that any of the women she had slept with had the same smell as Holly. A few came close, but with Holly it was like another layer of arousal, another part of what drew Gail inexorably to her. It was probably pheromones. Holly would know, but Gail decided against asking her because she liked the idea that it was just another sign that she and Holly were meant to be. Then Gail's last thought as she gave into sleep was that she really was a giant sap but then who wouldn't be if they were lucky enough to have Holly as their girlfriend.

Gail woke to a trail of kisses on her neck. They started gentle and light, barely a brush against her skin and then as she stirred became more insistent until they were hot, opened mouthed and somewhat wanton. Holly was pressed up against Gail, in much the same position as when they had fallen asleep the night before, although now her hand had moved from Gail's waist to the underside of her breast, her fingers delicately teasing. It was, Gail decided, the most delicious way to be woken up. She moaned a little and pushed herself back into Holly.

Taking this as encouragement, Holly moved her hand downwards and beneath the band of Gail's sleep shorts. Gail shifted back, almost reflexively, so her ass was pressed against Holly's center, pleased when she heard Holly's sharp intake of breath at the contact. Not to be outdone, Holly slipped her hand down further, smiling as she felt the wetness between Gail's legs.

'Holly, I can't do this,' Gail breathed out, but made no attempt to pull away.

'Can't,' Holly bit down gently on Gail's earlobe, 'are you sure about that.'

'Oh god, Holly. I can't. I told Chloe we need to be back at the station by 7.30,' Gail said, her words labored as she tried to ignore the feeling that was rapidly building up inside her, the anticipation of what was to come because she knew all too well the effect Holly had on her. Already she was aware of the coil of excitement low in her belly and of the way her skin was literally shimmering - she could think of no other word for it - at Holly's touch. Then there was the steadily increasing throb of her clit, which couldn't be ignored, which in fact was fast threatening to become the most delicious of aches needing relief.

'I'm the lead detective on this case. At least until Frankie gets back, I can't,' Gail's words were cut off as Holly pushed her flat against the bed and moved to straddle her.

As Holly sat upright, she pulled off her t-shirt. Gail's protests were immediately silenced by the glorious sight above her. Holly looked so beautiful. Curvaceous yet toned, with that lopsided smile and those brown, brown eyes hooded with lust and want and love. All Gail wanted to do in that moment was fuck her. To touch and kiss those perfect breasts, to take those dark nipples between her lips and then bite down gently so Holly would moan and pull at her hair, and then Gail would press lingering kisses to those impossibly flat abs before moving further down.

Gail smiled at that thought.

'Did you just lick your lips?' Holly asked, her tone amused and teasing.

'Uh huh,' Gail nodded. No use denying it, even if the action was involuntarily, even if she'd been unaware that she'd licked her lips until Holly drew attention to it. 'It's your fault.'

'Is that right?' Holly smirked, running her hands up Gail's sides to her breasts.

Gail shuddered a little then.

'I still can't do this.'

'I'll be quick,' Holly said, dipping her head down to kiss Gail and finding no resistance there, in fact finding Gail eagerly returning the kiss.

As they continued to kiss, Gail pulled Holly down flat against her. It was then that they heard the knock on the door. Tentative at first and then louder and then the door was opening. They both froze, Holly still astride Gail and Gail with her hands now on Holly's ass.

'Sorry, sorry,' Chloe said, 'I'm not looking'

'What the fuck, Price,' Gail said, 'this better be good.'

'Yeah, Gail sorry but the Superintendent is downstairs and insists on seeing you. If I hadn't stopped her, she would have come up here herself.'

'Fuck. It's only just past 6.30.' Gail groaned. She threw her head back against the pillow. 'Okay, tell her I'll be down in a minute.'

Holly sat up again and Gail moved her hands to her hips.

'I'm sorry,' Gail twisted her mouth in annoyance, 'my mother always has lousy timing. Can we see each other tonight?'

'Yes, we already plan to,' Holly titled her head to one side, 'have you forgotten it's Lisa's birthday. She's invited us out to go drinking and dancing.'

'Ugh,' Gail bounced her head back on the pillow again, 'why couldn't you have stayed in San Francisco until tomorrow. Then I wouldn't have to go.'

'It won't be that bad,' Holly reassured Gail, 'and how about we stay for just long enough to be polite and then you can have your wicked way with me.'

Gail looked up at Holly's smiling face and grinned back.

'I'm holding you to that promise, Stewart.'

…..

Elaine was seated at the kitchen table and tapping her foot impatiently. The wood floor amplified the sound of each tap so that when Gail walked into the kitchen she wondered where the hammering sound was coming from.

'You weren't up,' Elaine said by way of greeting. It was a statement not a question and the censure in it was plain.

'We had a late night,' Gail started to explain and then stopped herself. Fuck it. She wasn't going to react defensively to her mother.

'When I was lead detective on a case I always made sure I was the first one at the station and the last to leave. I would have expected you to be at 15 by now.'

'Well, if you expected that, why are you here mother, and not at the station?'

Elaine pursed her lips. 'Well, clearly I know you too well.'

'If there is no other reason for you being here other than being my personal alarm clock, I really should get going to 15.'

Elaine laughed. 'I forgot about your sharp tongue. How does Holly find it?'

Gail's eyes widened. 'How does Holly…' she trailed off. Should she tell Elaine that Holly found it most agreeable. In fact more than once may have referred to Gail's tongue as very talented. That Gail could do things with her tongue that made Holly come over and over and that if Elaine hadn't interrupted she would be putting it to good use right now. Somehow, though, she doubted Elaine really wanted to know any of these things.

In the silence that followed as Gail stopped speaking, Elaine must have realized how what she had said might be construed because she flushed, her face suddenly quite red.

'Well, um the reason I'm here is to let you know I'm going to visit Steve for a few days.' Elaine said, with considerably less composure than usual.

'Yeah, he mentioned that,' Gail said, wondering why her mother would bother making a special trip just to tell her this.

'Well Gail, hard as you find it to believe, I keep an eye out for you. This is your first case as lead detective. The unusual circumstances in which the body was found make it a very high profile investigation, and with Detective Anderson away until the end of the week, and Detective Price being so inexperienced, I'm wondering if someone more senior should be called in to work with you.'

Here it comes, Gail thought. Elaine didn't believe she was good enough to head an investigation. Couldn't risk that she'd fuck it up and sully the Peck name, especially as her mother had worked so hard in policing circles to restore faith in the Peck brand. She guessed she should be thankful Elaine had come to tell her first and hadn't just appointed someone over her head. There was that at least.

'Who are you proposing?' Gail asked.

'Well, Swarek's been at a loose end ever since he was transferred to 27 and he knows all of you, so I think we should second him, at least until Detective Anderson's return.'

'Swarek?' Gail said.

She hadn't been too concerned when Swarek got a promotion and moved to 27. Andy didn't like it, of course. Swarek wasn't all bad, but Gail found he could be somewhat arrogant and overbearing when working a case. Never a great listener, he wasn't much of a team player, more interested in acting on his gut feeling than getting input from his team or in methodical police work. Even though the betrayal had hurt at the time, with hindsight Gail thought Andy might have been better off with Nick. At least he was good in bed. If Swarek was anything like he was at work, it would be all about himself. Still, she guessed Andy seemed like she was happy.

'Yes,' Elaine said impatiently, 'Sergeant Shaw agreed he was a good choice, but we decided I should speak with you first.'

Interesting, thought Gail, was her mother offering her the option of refusing?

'Actually, Superintendent,' Gail said, taking a punt. She deliberately used Elaine's rank to convey her seriousness, even though it seemed ridiculous to be so formal when she was standing here barefoot in sweatpants and a t-shirt. 'I'm confident that I can lead this investigation. Detective Price and I have made a lot of headway in a short time and I expect we'll make an arrest before Detective Anderson's return.'

God, she hoped she wouldn't live to regret that last statement.

'Very well,' Elaine said, surprising Gail at how quickly she caved, 'but if you need to talk over anything, you have my number.'

Gail nodded, doing her best to conceal her astonishment. It actually sounded like a genuine offer.

'Thank you,' she said quietly.

Elaine nodded briskly.

Holly appeared in the kitchen then. Freshly showered and dressed for work, her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

'Holly' Elaine greeted her, 'You got back yesterday.' The way Elaine said it she wasn't expecting an answer. Since Holly had returned to Toronto, she'd reluctantly become used to Elaine keeping tabs on her as well as Gail.

'Yes,' Holly nodded, 'it took longer than expected, but we got a conviction.'

'The defense should have known better than to question your findings.'

'I guess that's their job, isn't it.'

'True,' Elaine said.

'I need to shower,' Gail said, 'mother I'll see you in few days.'

'Yes, of course and Gail, I meant what I said. If you need to talk.'

After Gail left the room, Holly offered Elaine coffee, which she declined, saying she wasn't staying and in any case she was trying to cut down because her blood pressure was a little high. Holly had concurred that that was probably sensible and set about making coffee for herself.

'So are you still living at that plastic surgeon's place around the corner?' Elaine inquired.

'Yes,' Holly said, even though she knew that Elaine was well aware she was.

When Lisa had announced that she had brought a place two streets away from Gail's house, Gail had been irritated. She didn't want Lisa in her neighborhood. Didn't want to run into her at the corner store or at the farmer's market on a Friday or see her out jogging in her $600 running shoes and her Stella McCartney print tights and the pink crop top that revealed more flesh than was strictly necessary or in fact comfortable for someone supposedly pounding the pavement. Didn't want to turn around in the liquor store, after paying for a six pack of beer and a bottle of tequila, to find Lisa with a case of French champagne and a disparagingly look.

However, when Lisa announced that she'd be sharing with Holly, Gail's reaction was very different. They were at Rachel's and it was Holly who was now feeling irritated. She'd asked Lisa to let her tell Gail about the move, not sure how her girlfriend would react.

'So perfect for a booty call,' Gail beamed after Lisa dropped the news, looking deliberately at the plastic surgeon to see if she had got a rise out of her.

Lisa said not one word but turned on her heel and left the room. A moment later, she returned with a typed sheet of paper.

'Holly can only move in if you two sign this contract.'

'What contract?' Holly asked.

'It says you agree not to have sex anywhere in the house except Holly's bedroom.'

Gail burst out laughing. 'What about when you're away, Lisa?' she asked.

'I do not want you two defiling my furniture or anywhere else in the house for that matter. I can barely bring myself to sit on that sofa,' Lisa gestured to the sofa where they were now seated, 'since you, since you know.' Lisa shook her head as if trying to erase an image from her head.

Gail laughed again. Holly smirked. Not that she didn't feel a little bad that Lisa had walked in on them, but god the sex had been amazing. Actually, who was she kidding? Sex with Gail was always amazing.

'So not even in the shower?' Gail persisted, 'behind closed doors.'

'No. Just Holly's bedroom.'

Gail turned to Holly. 'I don't know, Holly. Maybe you should reconsider moving in. Shower sex is one of our favorites. That's going to be tough to remove that from our repertoire.'

Holly had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. Gail clearly had no intention of adhering to Lisa's demands but she wasn't going to let an opportunity to wind up Lisa pass.

'Oh, okay then,' Lisa huffed, 'the shower, but you have to keep the door closed and locked and the volume down.'

Now, back in Gail's kitchen, Holly smiled to herself as she remembered that conversation. Then she became aware that Elaine was saying something.

'Sorry,' Holly asked.

'I was saying, I don't understand why the two of you don't move in together. You are serious about one another, aren't you?'

'Oh, very serious, but we don't want to rush things.'

'Oh,' Elaine lifted an eyebrow skeptically.

'Anyway, dating is fun. There's a definite frisson that comes from not seeing your girlfriend everyday,' Holly said a little wickedly, 'I'm not sure if we're ready to give that up right now to settle down.'

'Oh,' Elaine said again, rising out of her chair, 'well, I should be leaving.'

For a moment Holly worried that she'd gone too far, but that fear was quickly replaced by mortification when Elaine spoke.

'In my experience sex can be just as thrilling when you get to wake up with the person you love every morning. There is the added advantage that it's always on tap. So to speak. You can act on the urge when you feel it. Not be left wanting.'

Jeez, Holly thought, did she have sexual frustration written all over her face. Was it that obvious to Elaine that her unannounced arrival had interrupted Holly and Gail just when they were about to get down and dirty after nearly two weeks apart? Was there anything Elaine didn't know or couldn't deduce?

None of the mothers of Holly's previous girlfriends had talked to her about sex, well at least not the sex she was having or not having with their daughters. Holly was also fairly certain her own mother had never felt the need to raise the issue with any of those girlfriends, even though Becca Stewart had been a free spirited hippy in the 1970s and prided herself on having remained open minded.

It occurred to Holly that Elaine might be deliberately messing with her. After all Elaine was notorious for her physiological warfare and, as Gail could attest, wasn't above playing mind games with her own family. If Elaine was now giving her the same treatment, maybe Holly should take it as a positive sign that she considered her part of the family. Was that even a positive thing, Holly wondered?

'Uhh, yeah. I guess there's that,' she finally said when the silence in the kitchen stretched a little long and it became apparent that Elaine was expecting a response.

'Well, if my daughter is anything like me, I imagine she has a voracious sexual appetite.'

Holly tried to stop it but it was too late and she simply couldn't hold it in. She did a spit take of the coffee she'd just then drunk. It was barely a sip, luckily. So only a little liquid was expelled. Holly hastily turned towards the kitchen counter, grabbing a dishcloth to wipe her face, her back now to Elaine.

'Well, I really must be going,' Elaine said, 'and dear, you missed a little coffee on your chin.'

…..

'I can't tell who it is, sorry,' the bus terminal manager shook his head apologetically, 'though he's definitely wearing the same trousers as the bus drivers.'

'Would it help to take another look?' Gail asked.

The manager shook his head. They'd already been through the surveillance footage three times.

'Most of the terminal staff, myself included don't know the drivers that well. Only about a third of them are based here in Toronto. The rest come from all over Canada. The drivers have their own break room too.'

'So it's possible our guy isn't from Toronto. That he brought the suitcase with him from whatever town or city he's based in,' Chloe said.

'True,' Gail sighed, 'that will make the job of finding him even harder.' She turned to the manager. 'You okay with us showing this footage to the staff who are here now?' She didn't need to ask, but the manager might be more cooperative if he thought he had a choice.

'Of course. You can use my office again for the interviews.'

'Thanks,' As Gail began to nod, her phone pinged with a text. 'It's Holly,' she explained to Chloe, 'she's got some results for us. Do you want to stay here with McNally and Diaz? Get a start on those interviews.'

'Happy too,' Chloe said, appreciating the trust Gail was showing in her by leaving her to run the interviews when she'd barely made detective.

'I'll stop by the station on the way to the morgue and give Robinson the surveillance footage from the bus bays. See if she's had any luck tracking down CCTV footage from the street.'

…..

Robinson didn't have good news for Gail.

'No cameras on that part of the street,' she said, 'there is one about 400 meters down from the entrance to the terminal walkway. Do you want me to get the footage? It shouldn't be too hard to spot a guy wheeling a pink suitcase. If that's the route he took.'

'Definitely worth a shot,' Gail agreed, sounding a little distracted.

Robinson noticed Gail was chewing her lip. If she had still been crushing on the detective, she would have found it adorable. She realized that Gail, rather than being distracted, was mulling something over.

'Shit, your right Robinson, a guy wheeling a pink suitcase would stand out,' Gail said suddenly, her voice animated, her face lit up in that way when a thought suddenly occurs to you. 'How would the drivers get to work? They can't park their cars at the terminal, and anyway they can be away for several days.'

'There's a subway at the end of the street.'

'Exactly. I bet most of them take the subway to work. See if you can get CCTV footage from the subway station as well the street. I'll ask Oliver if he can spare someone to help you. I need you to go through the surveillance of the bus bays as well.'

'No problem,' Robinson smiled.

Gail knew, now that Holly had filled her in on what she'd overheard at that award ceremony, about Robinson's crush. Not that Gail had picked up on it. These days, she was so wrapped up in Holly she didn't immediately notice when someone was interested in her. Didn't see the signs that in the past would have tipped her off. The smiles reserved just for her, the lingering looks, and the slight flush on the person's cheeks when Gail spoke to them, and sometimes even the stutter in their speech. Anna was acting quite normally, so Gail guessed she had moved on. She seemed like a good person. She was certainly a conscientious officer. Maybe Gail should see if Holly had a friend they could set Robinson up with. Sheesh, Gail shook her head, she really was turning into a sap, and it was all Holly's fault.

'Is there something the matter, Detective?' Robinson asked, noticing Gail shake her head.

'No, no. All good,' Gail replied, 'I'm going to the morgue.'

Robinson smiled. Was it slightly knowing, Gail wondered? It occurred to her, a little belatedly, that Robinson would think she brought up the morgue because she knew about the crush and wanted Robinson to know she was with Holly. It certainly hadn't been her intention to make the officer uncomfortable.

'To get some results. The toxicology and some other labs came in,' Gail explained, knowing it sounded awkward.

Robinson nodded.

'I'll get that footage from the subway.'

…

'Dr Stewart said she'll be down in a minute. Dr Carral wanted her for something,' Natasha explained.

They were standing in the same suite as that used for the autopsy less than 24 hours ago. There was no evidence of the postmortem. The stainless steel table in the center of the room and the benches lining the walls had been scrubbed clean, and all the instruments and other tools were neatly back in place. The body of the victim was safely stowed in one of the drawers of the refrigeration unit that took up one side of the room.

'So you here on your own,' Gail asked, 'where is Dr Wilson?'

'He went with Dr Carlowski to collect a DNA sample from a suspect at 27.'

Gail nodded again. She tried to think of something to say to Natasha. Really she wasn't very good at small talk, unless she was being snarky. That was her specialty. Gail wished Holly would show up and rescue her from having to make conversation.

'So,' Natasha finally spoke, 'you know Dr Stewart well. What's the best way to impress her?'

'I, uh,' Gail wasn't sure what to make of this question. Did Natasha realize she and Holly were together and, if she didn't, what exactly did she mean by impressing Holly. 'Uh, like anyone Dr Stewart appreciates hard work,' Gail said, deciding to take Natasha's question at face value.

'Oh, yeah I can see that. So this is your first case as the lead detective.'

Gail nodded.

'Well, if you need someone to talk the forensics over with, I'd be happy to help out.'

That was the second time today someone had offered to talk over the case with her, but Gail had a sinking feeling that Natasha's offer might come with more string attached than Elaine's.

'Thanks but Holly always makes herself very available,' Gail said, and as Natasha arched an eyebrow, she added 'to discuss cases.'

'I bet she does.'

They were silent again. Damn, where was Holly, Gail thought as the silence began to feel uncomfortable.

'So,' Gail said, finally settling on a safe topic,' how are you settling into Toronto?'

'Great. It's an amazing city. Not that I've had that much free time to explore it now I've started this internship.'

'Well it's good you have a cousin here.'

'Been asking around about me Detective?' Natasha said, moving a little closer to Gail, her voice suddenly lower.

'Lisa mentioned it,' Gail said, thinking surely Natasha's not flirting with me. 'I just meant it's good to have someone to show you around.'

'Is that an offer, Detective,' Natasha's voice had definitely taken a coquettish turn and she leaned even closer into Gail's personal space.

'I, um,' Gail edged back away from Natasha and towards the door.

Maybe the best option was to leave and go in search of Holly. It felt a lot like Natasha was flirting with her. Which was altogether confusing. Gail thought if anything the intern was interested in Holly. She'd been sitting fairly close to Holly at that bar. Then again surely Natasha must now realize she and Holly were together. Although that whole thing at the bar had been such a clusterfuck, Natasha could well have assumed that she and Holly were exes, especially given Gail's odd behavior that night. Maybe Natasha was just one of those flirty kind of people. Maybe she acted like this with everyone.

'A woman like you,' Natasha paused and let her eyes wander the length of Gail's body, 'I imagine you know your way around.' Natasha paused again and then smiled and Gail had a sudden flash of a wolf. 'Toronto I mean.'

'I, um, I'm going to see what's holding up Holly,' Gail said hurriedly, moving away as if she'd been singed.

With a measure of relief, she saw Holly standing in the doorway. Gail wondered how long she'd been there and if she'd overheard Natasha flirting, because who was she kidding the intern had definitely been flirting with her.

Holly had indeed heard the final part of the conversation. If she hadn't been so sure of Gail anyway, the almost comical look of confusion and annoyance on Gail's face would have been enough to reassure her that Gail had absolutely no interest in Natasha. She sighed inwardly. Just her luck to land two interns who in different ways were out to get Gail.

'Doctor Stewart,' Gail said, sounding exceedingly pleased to see her.

'Detective,' Holly smiled widely at Gail, 'I have a feeling you're going to be very happy with what I have for you.' She was holding a familiar blue folder in her hand, although Gail guessed that this time it did actually contain a real report.

'Oh,' Gail said, stopping herself from making a flirty comeback, conscious as she was of Natasha watching them.

'The toxicology tests showed the victim had a high dose of barbiturates – pentobarbital - in her system. Enough to knock her out. As well, she'd been drinking. Her BAC, blood-alcohol concentration was 0.08, above the legal limit. Even without the barbiturates her co-ordination, reaction time and judgment would have been impaired. I think it's safe to say she was unconscious when she was strangled.'

'Because of the combination of the two?'

'Yes, like alcohol, barbiturates depress the central nervous system. Taken in large doses with alcohol, will very likely lead to unconsciousness.'

'Barbiturates, alcohol,' Gail blew out a breath, 'that sounds planned. It doesn't fit with the way the body was dumped.'

'Unless the killer hadn't thought that part through. Maybe he'd worked out how to kill her, but hadn't then considered how to dispose of the body,' Holly said.

'That doesn't really make sense. If you're going to go as far as to plan a murder, to obtain pentobarbital to drug the victim, wouldn't you also figure out what to do with the body?'

'Unless, for some reason he murdered her earlier than he planned to,' Natasha offered, 'maybe something happened that made him kill her before he worked out how to dispose of the body.'

'That's possible,' Gail said, 'nothing about this fits the usual pattern. If he drugged her it suggests the murder was premeditated, yet strangling suggests he acted in a rage.'

'There were no finger prints on the plastic bag, and the only ones we found on the suitcase belonged to the manager and janitor at the bus terminal,' Holly said, 'it would be easy to wipe the case clean, and you'd expect most people to know to do that even if the murder was unplanned, but the fact that the plastic bag had no prints suggests he was aware enough to wear gloves.'

'Which again points to it being premeditated,' Gail sighed.

'Well, an examination of the stomach contents showed the victim ate pizza right before she died so she may have even shared a meal with the killer,' Holly pointed out.

'Which means she didn't see him as a threat, that it was someone known to her,' Gail said, 'so she probably also had a few drinks with him too. That's the most likely way he drugged her – by spiking her drinks?'

'Yes,' Holly nodded, 'and this is where it gets interesting. We found a hair that doesn't belong to the victim on the cord used to strangle her. We were lucky it included its bulb, or root, because it contains live cells so we were able to find DNA. Test showed it belonged to a male who was closely related to the victim, possibly a half-brother or cousin.'

'So the victim could be related to the killer,' Gail mused, 'or maybe she lived with a male relative. He owns the bathrobe and the killer murdered her using the cord. Which would mean she was murdered in her own home.'

'All possible, but why hasn't that relative come forward to report her missing,' Holly said. Her expression sympathetic because rather than bringing them any closer to the killer, the forensic tests had just thrown up more questions and more possibilities.

Gail frowned. 'If we could just identify this woman, then all of this,' she waved her hand at the report Holly was still holding, 'might mean something.'

'There is one more thing,' Holly said, 'we found dog hair on her clothing. It looks like it's from a least two different dogs.'

…..

After that Gail returned to the terminal to assist Chloe, Andy and Chris with the interviews. It was slow going. Nobody claimed to recognize the killer or thought he looked the least bit familiar. The rest of the day passed in a frustratingly similar fashion. By late afternoon they had interviewed most of the terminal staff and over half the drivers on the list head office had supplied, but all of them appeared to check out.

The four returned to the station in the late afternoon. Robinson and Duncan, who had been assigned to assist her, hadn't fared any better with the surveillance footage.

'So he didn't take the subway to work,' Gail said.

'Looks that way,' Robinson agreed.

'We'll have to widen the search then. Maybe the killer did drive to work or took a bus. Robinson, Moore can you locate parking lots within walking distance of the terminal and get a list of the local buses servicing the area.'

'I guess we know what we'll be doing tomorrow,' Chris said.

'Yep,' Gail said, 'more interviews. We'll need to talk to parking attendants and drivers on the local bus routes. Hopefully we can also catch the rest of the drivers in the next two days. Surely someone must have noticed a guy wheeling with a pink suitcase. It's not something you see everyday.'

….

'So Gail haven't seen you around for a while,' the woman said. Her jet black hair was shaved on both sides, and the rest was fashioned into a high quiff. The sleeves of her denim shirt were rolled up revealing one arm covered in colorful tattoos of such exquisite detail and beauty that Holly could tell they were the work of an artist of considerable talent. There was no doubt about it. The woman herself was stunning. Holly had to admit it, even though she didn't particularly like the way the woman was looking at Gail. Wasn't it enough that she had to deal with her intern making overtures to Gail, but now this?

She and Gail were standing at the bar in the club Lisa had chosen for her birthday celebration. Clearly they were the first to arrive. Somehow Gail for all her rebelliousness couldn't kick the punctuality habit that had been drummed into her by her parents.

'Oh, you know, I've been busy.' Gail said noncommittally to the woman, waving her hand around awkwardly.

'Yeah,' the woman raised a finely sculptured eyebrow, 'too busy to party?'

'Well, you know,' Gail shrugged.

She made no attempt to introduce Holly. In fact Holly had the distinct impression that Gail had no intention of making introductions anytime soon, so she stepped forward. 'Hi, I'm Holly,' she said.

'Hey, Lea,' the woman said with a curt nod, before turning back to Gail. 'So got any plans for tonight. Couple of us are heading back to my place if you want to come.'

'Thanks, but Holly and I are here to meet some people,' Gail said.

Lea looked from Holly to Gail with sudden understanding. 'Oh I see, sure. Another time.'

Once she left, Holly turned to Gail. 'You totally had sex with her.'

'Only once.' Gail admitted.

It wasn't exactly reassuring. The word 'only' suggested there had been more than one opportunity. Holly knew she shouldn't be peeved. She'd gone to San Francisco. They had broken up. Of course Gail would sleep with other women and of course someone as beautiful as Gail would have plenty of offers.

'I didn't think butch girls were you're kind of thing,' Holly said, hoping Gail couldn't hear the tetchiness beneath the teasing.

'Well Holly, you know you're kind of butch when it comes to sports,' Gail replied tartly.

Holly titled her head and regarded Gail wryly. 'Don't get me wrong, she was gorgeous.'

'Frankie said I was having my lesbian adolescence.'

'Ah, so a bit of experimentation and lots of sex. Well, I guess I should be thankful that at least you didn't sleep with Lisa or Jen Luck.'

Gail looked pained at that thought. 'I'd rather go back to boys. No, actually I'd join a nunnery first.'

'You Gail Peck give up sex. Can't see it happening.' Holly took a swig of her beer.

'I didn't say I'd give up sex. I'd take care of myself.'

'Uh huh, I'm pretty sure nuns take a vow of chastity, Gail.'

'I'd be one of those rebel nuns,' Gail decided.

'So, taking care of yourself. Sounds like you don't need me around then Peck.'

'I never said that. I just meant if Lisa and Luck were the last two lesbians left on the planet,' Gail pretended to huff but pulled Holly closer and kissed her. What began as a fairly innocent kiss soon turned a little heated and Gail thought if Lisa didn't turn up soon she'd be suggesting they leave.

'Oh god, you two get a room,' Lisa annunciated every syllable.

Were had she sprung from, Gail wondered. Without removing her arms from around Holly, she turned to Lisa and said 'Really, Lisa you've got to stop sneaking up on us like that.'

'Happy birthday, Lisa,' Holly said. She extracted herself from Gail and gave Lisa a hug and a kiss on each cheek.

'Well, at least you made it back from San Francisco in time,' Lisa said coolly, 'Rachel and the others are here too.'

'Others?' Holly asked.

Lisa pointed in the direction of the entrance to the club and they saw Rachel making her way towards the bar, followed by three very familiar women.

'You've got to be kidding,' Holly said.

'What do you mean, Holly?' Lisa asked innocently.

'What are you doing inviting Frankie and Alannah and Francine?' Holly sounded annoyed.

'Lisa's totally hoping to get lucky tonight, aren't you Lisa,' Gail said, realizing Lisa in inviting the three had simply been thinking about herself and hadn't deliberately meant to aggravate she or Holly. Though Lisa seemed to have conveniently forgotten, or put behind her, the fact that she threw Francine out of Rachel's apartment after Francine had tried to kiss Holly.

Lisa shrugged. 'They are single adult women. What's wrong with putting myself out there.'

'So no problem with taking Holly's cast-offs or my ex,' Gail said, with a nod in Frankie's direction.

'Oh please, Gail, as if you're so virtuous. When I stayed at your place, I had to listen to Chloe endlessly prattle about the incestuous goings on at 15.'

'Never slept with a best friend's ex,' Gail said firmly.

Lisa didn't reply, but plastered a smile on her face as Rachel and the other three reached them.

'Champagne all round,' Lisa said, 'or are you sticking with beer, Peck.' She sneered as she said the last bit.

'I'll take a beer,' Frankie said. It was then that Gail noticed that Frankie was a little glassy eyed, as if she'd already got a head start on drinking.

'Make that two, or three I guess with Gail,' Alannah said.

'Four,' Holly added, holding up her empty bottle.

Lisa rolled her eyes contemptuously. 'Francine, perhaps you could give me a hand getting drinks.'

'So what happened to your vacation Frankie?' Gail asked curiously, 'get sick of all that sun and sand?'

Frankie hadn't said much about her holiday before she'd left. Only that she was going to the beach. Still she wasn't due back at work for another three days.

'Something like that,' Frankie said evasively, 'and who wouldn't pass up an opportunity to attend a Lisa farce.'

Gail laughed and Holly suppressed a smile, noting that Rachel and Alannah were doing the same. Francine then appeared with the beers, which she handed around, giving the last one to Frankie.

'We haven't met,' Frankie said as she took the bottle, 'I'm Frankie.'

'So what is Frankie short for?'

'Francine.'

God, Gail thought, Frankie must be drunk. She usually would only reveal her proper name under duress. In fact, Gail had to find it out by hacking into the Departmental files, with Dov's help of course.

'Really, Francine.'

'Yeah, my mother was in one of her pretentious phases,' Frankie replied.

Gail had just taken a swig of beer and as Frankie said this she couldn't help but guffaw with the result that the liquid she had been in the process of swallowing spurted out through her nose and sprayed in Francine's direction. Gail could have sworn a few droplets even landed on Francine's expensive looking silk shirt. Francine regarded her disdainfully and Frankie looked perplexed.

'It wasn't that funny, Peck,' she said.

'Frankie or should I say Francine meet Francine Hart. Dr Francine Hart.' Gail said.

'Okay, that is funny,' Frankie said, giving Gail a meaningful look. It made Gail realize that Frankie knew exactly what she was doing. That she'd done that whole name thing on purpose. Gail had told Frankie about the doctor and how Lisa seemed to be championing her cause when it came to Holly. Clearly Frankie had decided to bring Francine down a peg or two. She wouldn't have admitted it to Frankie, but it made Gail feel absurdly appreciative.

'So, I was promised dancing,' Frankie said, clapping her hands together, 'Peck, Stewart you up for it.'

When it became obvious that Gail and Holly were only really interested in dancing with each other, Frankie returned to the table Lisa had snagged. From where they were sitting they could see the dance floor and Holly and Gail, who weren't actually doing a lot of what you'd call dancing. They were more or less shuffling around while grinning like idiots at each other, although at one point Holly appeared to be doing the Macarena, which had Gail doubled over with laughter. Frankie knew that she was supposed to hate romance on principle, but she had to admit it made her happy to see Gail so happy.

'Who would have guessed two such hot women would be such dorky dancers,' Frankie said, with a nod in Gail and Holly's direction.

'It is a little painful to watch,' Lisa said scathingly and Francine laughed.

'They're in love,' Alannah said, 'I don't think they care what anyone else thinks.'

'I think it's adorable,' Rachel said.

'Yep, I'll drink to that,' Frankie held up her beer bottle and clinked it with Alannah's.

As the night wore on, whenever Francine and Lisa got up to dance, Holly would drag Gail back to the table, and whenever Lisa and Francine returned to the table, Holly and Gail would be up dancing or over at the bar. Frankie noticed it with some amusement. She had anticipated Lisa's do would be entertaining. And there was the added benefit that Alannah was here too. The doctor really was quite lovely. Not only that, she'd stood up for Gail and Holly. It took Frankie a little by surprise how much she approved of that.

Now Frankie found herself seated alone with Holly, while the others, with the exception of Gail, were dancing. Gail had stopped to speak to someone on her way back from the dance floor.

'Who is Gail talking to?' Holly asked, trying to sound casual. She'd seen the woman greet Gail with a quick kiss on the lips and a hug, which unusually Gail had reciprocated and then smiled genuinely. The woman had shoulder length curly black hair cut in a funky style and a wide face with two dimples either side of her mouth and an easy smile. The whole effect was attractive, confident and, if she had been Holly's type, which she definitely wasn't, somewhat sexy.

Frankie looked up.

'Oh, that's Olivia. Gail's ex. Well, one of them.' Frankie said, knowing she was being slightly provocative and that Holly of all people didn't deserve that.

'The architect,' Holly asked, but didn't add the one that Gail said she could have fallen for but for Holly.

'Yeah, you haven't met her?'

'No,' Holly shook her head.

'She fell for Gail hard. I think Gail broke her heart.'

'That's beginning to sound like a broken record.'

'Well, Holly can you imagine what it was like letting Gail loose on Toronto's lesbians. Let's just say there was something of a stampede.'

Problem was Holly could totally imagine. And she really didn't want to. Andy had told her the story of the visit to the women's prison, when Nick thought the prisoners were whistling at him, but of course it was actually Gail who was turning heads. Gail was still talking animatedly to Olivia and Holly felt a stab of, was it jealousy. She shook her head slightly. She didn't understand why she was reacting this way.

'You should go and say hello,' Frankie said, 'You totally want to check her out, don't you.'

'No, no it's fine. I don't need to meet everyone of Gail's exes.'

'It's quite a list so don't hold your breath,' Frankie goaded, but when she saw the look of alarm cross Holly's face, she relented. 'Really, it wasn't that long. It could have been.'

'I don't doubt that,' Holly winced.

'Here,' Frankie said, downing her beer and holding out the empty bottle towards Holly, 'we need another round. It must be your turn to buy the drinks.'

'Um, I'm only half way though mine,' Holly said, knowing she'd bought the last round. Not that she'd mind buying more drinks, but it was weird that Frankie was making such a big deal out of it. Normally the detective's mind was like a steel trap so it was surprising she'd lost track of whose turn it was.

'Clearly you're not versed in the art of social subterfuge,' Frankie said, 'I know it's my turn to buy drinks but I'm just giving you a chance to interrupt Gail and her ex.'

'Oh,' Holly said, feeling a little foolish, 'oh I see.'

'Geez how did you and Peck ever get together.'

'If it hadn't been for me rambling and then Gail kissing me it might not have happened.'

'Wait Peck made the first move?' Frankie asked.

Holly nodded. 'Well, we'd kind of been dancing around each other for weeks. As far as I knew she was the straight.'

Frankie laughed. 'I don't believe there was anything ever that straight about Gail.'

'Yeah, look at the way she's friends with all her exes. That should have tipped us off.' Holly grinned.

'I've always wanted to thank you.'

'Thank me?' Again Holly was puzzled.

'For being an amazing teacher,' Frankie arched one eyebrow, 'Gail's sensational in bed.'

Frankie must be really drunk, Holly thought. She frowned slightly. This wasn't a conversation she particularly wanted to be having.

'Oh shit,' Frankie slurred a little, 'that didn't come out well. I meant it as a compliment to you.'

'Gail was a natural.'

'Yeah?' Frankie arched her eyebrow a little higher this time.

'That's not to say I don't have some skills in that area,' Holly said and then realized she was more than a little drunk too. Was she flirting with Frankie? God how did that happen? She wasn't remotely interested in the woman, but around Frankie somehow every conversation took a flirtatious turn.

'I bet you do,' Frankie gave her a knowing smile, 'why Doctor Stewart if I didn't know better I'd think you were trying to seduce me.'

'Not now, not ever, not in a million years, Frankie.' Holly said blithely and then seeing Frankie's crestfallen look, said. 'Sorry, you know my dance card is completely full.'

Frankie burst out laughing. 'I'm just messing with you, Stewart.'

Holly tried not to frown. Was she a character from a Jane Austen novel? Her dance card was full. Holly groaned inwardly. She knew Gail would tease her later for being such a dork. Oh well, it was the truth. There was no one else for her but Gail. It was as simple as that.

As if overhearing her thoughts, Frankie said, 'Yeah, yeah I know Gail is the only girl for you. Now go check out her ex but try and be cool, Holly.'

Holly stood. Would she have been attracted to Frankie if she'd never met Gail? The two women could both be caustic in a way that Holly found smart and funny and which she knew intimidated the hell out of most people. Both women were supremely confident about their desirability, which only added to their appeal.

Yet, Frankie seemed harder, more cynical than Gail. Right from the beginning Holly had sensed the vulnerability that lay beneath Gail's snark, the gentler, sensitive side, she rarely let anyone see. It was this as much as everything else that had made Holly fall for Gail. Besides, there was no denying it. She totally had a thing for blonde women, and if their hair was short all the better.

Olivia turned out to be very pleasant and Holly found herself liking her immediately. Which was surprising. Olivia was the woman Gail said she could have fallen for had her heart not already belonged to Holly. The almost, near enough who Gail had seriously considered making a life with before deciding it was unfair on Olivia because she couldn't give her her whole heart. Olivia who had said near enough was good enough and that she had enough love for them both. Olivia who was left shattered by Gail's leaving. But then Holly knew about that, knew how losing Gail could make you feel like you'd been cleaved in two.

'Oh, you're Holly,' Olivia said smiling warmly and without even a trace of bitterness in her voice, 'Gail said you were back in Toronto.'

Transpired that Olivia had recently met someone new and was in love and was loved back.

'You two should come round for dinner and meet her,' Olivia said, 'if that's not too weird.'

'Not weird,' Gail said, looking across at Holly for confirmation.

'That sounds great,' Holly said, finding it easy to say yes and amazed at how Gail seemed to be quite unfazed by a normal coupley thing like going to dinner with another couple.

It struck Holly that she liked Olivia for the same reason she liked Frankie. The two women cared about Gail. Even if Gail had broken their hearts, they had stood by her. For that Holly was grateful, especially as she couldn't make that claim for herself. Not that Holly had ever stopped caring, but she had abandoned Gail just at the time, as it turned out, that Gail needed her most. Olivia and Frankie's steady solicitude, their quiet support of Gail, surely had something to do with the way Gail had turned herself around, with the way she was learning to trust in relationships, to believe that what she and Holly had could last. For that, Holly realized she was inexpressibly grateful.

Soon after, Olivia left with her group of friends. Even though they had barely spoken to Lisa all night, Gail and Holly decided they'd stayed long enough too. While Gail went to the bathroom, Holly made her way over to where Lisa was sitting with Rachel. Francine was at the bar getting the next round, and Frankie was dancing with Alannah.

'Lis, we're heading home,' Holly said.

'Already.'

'Actually it's getting late. Gail and I are both working this big case so.'

'I get it, Holly,' Lisa interrupted, 'you two can't keep your hands off each other. But you know it won't last, don't you.'

'What won't last?' Holly asked, her voice flat.

'The sex,' Lisa said it like Holly was an idiot, 'Peck is obviously good in bed, but it's not enough to sustain a relationship. I know you Holly,' Lisa started jabbing her finger in Holly's direction, the action making it clear how drunk she was. 'You need an intellectual equal.'

'Lisa, you also know Gail. You stayed in her house. Presumably you had conversations with her. So you should see that Gail is smart and witty and generous hearted and she's actually interested in me and what I do and as far as I'm concerned I have found my equal.'

'Humph,' Lisa stood and swayed slightly, 'the trouble with you, Holly is that you've never been able to choose a girlfriend who's right for you.'

'And yet none of the set-ups you've arranged for me have ever worked out,' Holly's tone was cool, her anger barely in check.

'Francine is perfect for you. I don't know why you can't see that. And she's still interested in you, even after all this nonsense with Peck.'

'Lisa, Francine is a self-centered bore. If she has a sense of humor I certainly never discovered it. She literally only stopped talking about herself long enough to find out my name and occupation. I only slept with her because I was lonely and she was leaving for Africa the next day, and then, well, to put it bluntly, the sex was lousy. In fact I would rather tazer myself in the eye than have to speak to her again, let alone sleep with her.'

Holly turned abruptly then to find Gail standing behind her. Gail was completely still, her expression unreadable. Holly had no idea how long Gail had been there or how much of the conversation she had heard. Sometimes she is like a cat, Holly thought, the way she just appears suddenly without a sound. Then Gail's lips quirked and she bit them slightly to stop the smile that was threatening to break out across her face.

'That was mean. The last bit. That was mean wasn't it? I shouldn't have said that.' Holly gushed, 'it's not really cool to talk about whether people are good in bed but Lisa kind of drove me to it and'

Before Holly could finish speaking, Gail took her hand and leaned in to kiss her lightly on the lips.

'Oh,' Holly said, absently moving her hand to push back her glasses, forgetting she'd worn contacts, 'oh, I need to stop talking.'

Gail kissed her again.

'Let's get out of here, nerd. I believe there's a promise you need to make good on.'

….

The following morning Gail and Chloe found Dov in the detective pen. He looked up as they walked in.

'From the grin on your face Gail, I'd say you got some last night,' Dov said.

'Jeez, Dov,' Gail said, clipping the back of his head, 'mind in the gutter.'

'Ow, that hurt,' he said, rubbing his neck, 'I guess I'll just have to see if Dr Stewart has the same smile.'

'Jeez, Dov,' Chloe said, also clipping the back of his head.

'Chloe,' Dov whined, 'man you've been spending too much time with Gail.'

Before either Gail or Chloe could reply, they were interrupted by the sound of high-pitched yapping. In the next moment Duncan appeared with two longhaired toy dogs who were straining at their leashes and barking excitedly.

'Gerald, who told you it was bring your pets to work day?' Gail asked drily.

'Ah, these aren't mine Detective,' Duncan said, trying to rein in the dogs who were now wheeling in tight circles around his feet. 'Their owner seems to have disappeared. The neighbors heard the dogs barking for days before calling it in. There was no sign of the owner when we broke down the door. The place was a bit of a mess though. I've got to drop these two at the pound.'

'Oh, Duncan,' Chloe pointed to the officer's boot, upon which one of the dogs was now peeing.

'Oh, shoot. I'll get something to clean that up,' Duncan said, yanking the dogs to follow him out of the detective's pen.

'Wait Gerald,' Gail said, 'where exactly did you find these dogs and who owns them?'

'A woman,' Duncan used the hand that wasn't holding the leashes to dig his notebook out of his pocket, 'Rahmi Amir.'

Gail and Chloe turned to look at each other at the same time.

'I think she could be our victim,' Gail said, and Chloe nodded.


	27. Twenty-seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….
> 
> Thanks as always for the comments, kudos, bookmarks and subscriptions. It is so lovely to get your feedback and I feel happy knowing I’m writing something you guys enjoy. Your comments and suggestions often get me thinking about new directions to take the story in or inspire me to add whole new scenes or elements. So, for that I thank you all.
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy. Please forgive me for mistakes!

As she entered Rahmi’s apartment, Gail was hit by the stench of dog urine and dog shit. Chloe, Chris and Andy, who followed close behind her, groaned at the smell.

‘Man it stinks,’ Chris said, holding his hand over his nose.

The apartment was small. One bedroom and an open plan living, kitchen and dining room. A dining chair was upturned and a glass of wine had been knocked over, the red stain spreading across the white tablecloth like a blood splatter. There were two plates on the table and another wine glass. Evidently Rahmi had shared her last meal with someone, most likely her killer.

An open pizza box lay on the floor next to the dining table. The dogs had obviously eaten what was left of the meal, even chewing part of the cardboard box. They’d also managed to bite through a large packet of dog kibbles that was now lying empty on the kitchen floor. 

Chloe motioned to a framed photograph on a sideboard. 

‘That’s our victim,’ she said.

Gail picked up the photograph. It showed a smiling Rahmi, her cheek pressed against that of a man who seemed vaguely familiar. He had light brown hair and green eyes and, like Rahmi, he was grinning happily.

‘Boyfriend?’ Gail said to Chloe.

‘Could be. Might even be the killer.’

‘Ah, detectives,’ Andy called out from the bedroom, ‘you may want to take a look at this.’

In the bedroom, the door to the built-in robe had been flung open. It was obvious that someone had searched through the closet, flinging out shoes and handbags. Andy was pointing to a carry-on suitcase. It was the same brand and shade of pink as the one in which Rahmi had been found.

‘Matching set?’ Andy asked.

Gail nodded. ‘I’m calling forensics,’ she said, digging out her phone, ‘we need to stay out of here until they process the scene.’

‘Should the three of us canvas the neighbors in the meantime? See if they know anything. Maybe they can identify the guy in the photograph,’ Chloe asked.

‘Yeah, good plan. I’ll stay and wait for forensics,’ Gail said.

In the stretch before Holly and her team arrived, Gail went through a stack of bills and other correspondence she found on the kitchen bench, hopeful they might yield a clue. Fifteen minutes had passed when she heard a noise at the front door. 

Thinking forensics had made good time, she moved from the kitchen area to greet them. Standing stock still just inside the door was the man from the photograph. He had deep circles under his eyes, like he hadn’t slept much in the last few days, and his mouth was slightly agape. When he saw Gail rounding the corner from the kitchen, his face registered total confusion. Then he glanced down and noticed the badge clipped to her belt and his expression turned to one of panic.

‘Sir,’ Gail said calmly, ‘I’m Detective –‘

Before she could finish he turned and bolted out the door. Gail was after him in an instant, yelling, ‘Stop. Police’. She hoped it was loud enough that the other three would hear and come to help. 

The guy was fast but Gail could be nimble when she wanted to be. Rahmi’s apartment was at the end of a long corridor and Gail had nearly caught up by the time the man reached the glass doors to the complex. 

It was at this moment, as Gail and the man reached the front entrance to the apartment, that Holly and her two interns were getting out of the forensics van. Holly was congratulating herself on finding a park directly outside the apartment building and on the speedy trip from the morgue. Natasha had spent most of the car ride asking questions about Gail. Would Detective Peck be at the scene? How long had she been a detective? Had Holly known her when she was in uniform? Was it usual for detectives to be so knowledgeable about forensics, because Detective Peck certainly had an impressive grasp of what their work entailed. Holly had sighed and given curt, non-committal answers. So it was with some relief that she pulled into the curb and, cutting the engine, got out of the car. 

Holly had stretched slightly, appreciating a day that felt more like it belonged to summer than the middle of autumn, which if you went by the calendar it was supposed to be. She decided to push down thoughts about whether this was yet another sign of global warming. Nothing about the day was a harbinger of winter. She felt the sun warm against her skin. Skin that was still pleasantly humming from Gail’s touch last night and again this morning, loose and relaxed and yet somehow charged.

Days like this should be spent lazily in bed, with Gail pressed against her. Until the gentle shafts of sunlight, which at this time of year, as Holly had learned, fell across the back of Gail’s house and through the french doors into her bedroom and then reached the bed, made them reluctantly but finally pull away from one another. The sunshine luring them up and out to delight in a day so perfect, and to revel in the fact of finding one another in it. There hadn’t been enough days like that. Since Holly’s return to Toronto work had overtaken them. Then there was that trial in San Francisco that had dragged on, and it was just the first. Holly wasn’t sure how happy Gail would be about more time apart. She wasn’t too happy about it that was for sure.

Sometimes it did feel like they had to snatch moments to be together. Maybe Elaine was right. Maybe they should move in together. Which reminded Holly that she had to do something about Lisa. Of course she knew Lisa could be snooty and condescending. That Lisa deliberately left her filter off because she actually relished making people feel uncomfortable, something Holly just didn’t get. But Holly had meant it when she told Gail that Lisa was like family. And just like family, you took the good with the bad. Lisa was always there, always supportive when Holly needed her. In fact, Holly was certain Lisa would do anything she asked of her, apart it seemed from accepting Gail. Now Holly decided she’d had enough. If Lisa couldn’t acknowledge how in love she was with Gail, how happy Gail made her, then she didn’t need Lisa in her life anymore. Which meant she needed to find somewhere to live. 

Just as Holly came to this conclusion, Gail and the man burst through the doors and onto the steps leading up to the building. Holly and the interns watched as Gail leapt from the top step and launched herself at the fleeing man, bringing him down with a loud thud. Clearly winded, he was still for a second. Enough time though for Gail to put her knee in his back and grab his wrists. Just as she managed to bring his hands together, he pulled one free, jerking his arm out so his elbow thwacked into Gail’s cheek. She swore but didn’t loosen her grip on his other hand or remove her knee from his back. At that moment, Chris appeared with Andy and Chloe close behind. 

For Holly the whole event seemed to unfold as if in slow motion and, as she watched, several thoughts occurred to her almost at once. The first was that Gail was more athletic than she made out. The second was at least the man was fairly slight so hopefully Gail could handle him. The third was Gail would not be impressed that she’d been made to run. In fact would probably spend the rest of the day complaining about it. The fourth was why was Gail chasing a suspect by herself. The fifth was where the fuck was Gail’s back up. The final thought, as Gail landed half on top of the guy and struggled to restrain him, was why did her girlfriend have to have such a dangerous job. That had to have hurt. She hoped Gail hadn’t broken any ribs. 

At the same time as all these thoughts ran through her head in rapid succession, another seemingly separate part of Holly’s brain was wondering at how calm she was being and why it was that she remained rooted to the spot and had not gone to help Gail.

Then as Chris ran out of the building it was as if someone had flicked a switch and the world returned to its normal tempo, so that Holly no longer had the sense that time had been slowed down. It was then that she instinctively moved forward, full of panic, her only thought now to go to Gail. Then with some effort she stopped. This was police business. She had to remember that. They were trained to handle the situation and her interference might only make things worse. 

She recalled Gail’s rebuff at the station the day of the Ford shooting. For an awful minute Holly had thought Gail regretted kissing her in the interrogation room and the joy, the sheer giddiness of that stolen moment when she found that Gail felt the same way about her was replaced by wretchedness. 

Later Gail explained she and the other officers needed to focus and couldn’t be distracted by what had or was transpiring between she and Holly. Of course Holly should have seen that. In fact, Holly berated herself for not picking up on that. Instead she had rushed in, wearing her heart on her sleeve and caring too much, just as she always did, just as Lisa and Rachel warned her not too. And Holly should have known better because hadn’t Gail told her how easily she was spooked, and there Holly was making assumptions when Gail hadn’t even had a chance to process what had happened in the interrogation room. So now Holly held herself back, even though every atom in her body was screaming to go to Gail.

Once down the steps, Chris was immediately on the suspect, pulling down his flailing arm and cuffing him. As Gail stood, Chris hauled the guy to his feet.

‘About fucking time,’ Gail snarled at Chris, ‘what were the three of you doing? Having morning tea with the residents.’

Chris shrugged good-naturedly. He knew Gail’s reaction was part fear and part adrenalin rush.

‘You okay, Gail?’ Chloe asked.

‘What do you think, Price. You know I hate it when they make me run,’ Gail replied.

Holly bit her lip pensively. It was kind of reassuring to hear Gail being all snarky. On the other hand, Holly’s heart was hammering so loudly in her chest it was as if it were she who had tackled the guy to the ground, not Gail.

'Man that was badass,' Wilson said with a mix of awe and admiration.

'Totally badass,' Natasha agreed, a slight flush to her cheeks.

The two interns had come to stand next to Holly and she turned slowly to look at them with disbelief.

They could hear Chris ask the suspect for his name and the man refuse to give it. Then Gail told Chris to put him in the squad car. She sounded peevish and her words were clipped making Holly worry that she had hurt herself tackling the guy. As Chris hauled the man off, Gail began brushing dust off her legs and inspecting herself for damage.

'Fuck, these were my favorite jeans,' she said, noticing a rip in the knee, ‘god I hate it when they make you run.'

'Ah Detective,' Andy said tentatively, pointing to Gail's cheek, 'you're bleeding.'

'What?' Gail's hand went up to the place on her cheek, where the man's elbow had connected. It hurt. She knew it would already be starting to swell but she hadn't realized it was bleeding. It probably explained the sting that accompanied the throb.

Andy stepped closer to Gail and raised her hand as if she intended to examine the cut. Gail immediately took a step back, a look of alarm on her face.

‘Whoa, McNally, you’re not trying to touch me are you,’ she scowled, her tone somewhere between indignant and irritated.

Just at that moment Holly came up behind Gail. She gave Andy a sympathetic smile.

'Gail,' she said, trying to keep her voice level, determined not to sound panicked. She didn’t want Gail to know that as she watched Gail grapple with the man it felt like her heart was in her mouth. That for an instant, merely a second really, she had been fixed to the spot, her brain whirring like a hamster on a wheel, a subconscious distraction, so she wouldn’t have to admit that her paralysis came from fear.

Gail's head whipped around.

'Oh, hey,' she said softly, 'you saw that.'

Holly nodded and cupped Gail’s chin in one hand. She reached up with the other and gently touched the area around the cut.

Gail winced a little and then quipped, 'what's the verdict, doc? Will I live?'

'Yes. Nothing’s broken. The cut is superficial even though there's quite a bit of blood. We need to clean it up and put a bandage on it. Then you’ll need to ice it. There's a first aid kit in the van.'

'Okay,' Gail said meekly.

Chloe and Andy watched the exchange between the two women with growing amusement. Chloe, having become something of a permanent fixture at Gail's house, was used to it. But Andy had never seen Gail so readily acquiesce to anyone, especially in a situation like this. Normally she’d be telling people to back off, that she was fine, to stop fussing and to quit trying to touch her. 

‘McNally,’ Gail said suddenly, turning to Andy and Chloe, and narrowing her eyes when she noticed the goofy expressions on their faces, ‘you and Diaz take that guy back to the station. Detective Price and I will interview him once we’ve finished taking forensics through the apartment. Then I’ll need the two of you back here to stay with forensics while they process the scene.’

‘No problem, detective,’ Andy said smiling sweetly, knowing exactly why Gail was glowering.

‘And McNally see if you can get a name out of him.’

‘We’ll do our best.’

‘Who is he?’ Holly asked.

‘Possible suspect,’ Gail replied, ‘stupid idiot ran when he saw me in the apartment.’

‘If he’s the killer, weird that he would come back to the crime scene,’ Holly said.

‘I dunno, people do dumb things,’ Gail said tetchily, which made Holly realize she was more shaken by the scuffle than she was letting on. ‘Maybe he came back to clean up the evidence.’

‘Four days later? I guess it would fit if he is one of our bus drivers and he’s been out of town on work for the last four days,’ Holly mused.

‘There’s a photo in the apartment taken of him with the victim,’ Chloe said to Holly, ‘he’s definitely connected to this in someway.’

Back at the forensic van, Holly instructed Wilson and Natasha to unload the equipment.

‘Detective Price will show you to the apartment. I just need to attend to the cut on Detective Peck’s face,’ she said.

‘I could look at the cut, if you need to get a start on the apartment,’ Natasha offered.

‘I’ve got it, thanks Dr LaPaige,’ Holly said tightly, trying not to let her irritation show. She motioned for Gail to sit in the passenger seat of the van, facing outwards with her feet on the ground.

The interns set to work, pausing every so often to shoot curious looks in Gail and Holly’s direction. Rummaging through the first aid kit, Holly found a gauze swab and some saline solution, which she used to clean the cut. Then she placed a small bandage strip across it. 

‘What about your ribs?’ Holly asked, lifting Gail’s shirt and placing a hand on the left rib cage. 

Gail shivered.

‘Does it hurt?’ Holly asked, her face creased with concern.

‘No, your hands are cold.’

‘Oh sorry,’ Holly rubbed her hands together to warm them and resumed her examination. ‘Does it hurt when I press here?’

Gail shook her head. ‘Just a little tender.’

‘Okay, what about when you cough?’

Gail coughed. ‘Feels fine,’ she said.

‘Can you twist from side to side?’

Gail did as instructed.

‘Does that feel okay? No pain?’

‘No pain,’ Gail confirmed. 

‘It may just be a little bruised. With your skin we’ll see soon enough,’ Holly said, pressing around the ribs to be absolutely sure.

As Holly conducted the examination, her face was scrunched in concentration, and Gail couldn’t help smiling at how adorable it made her look.

‘What,’ Holly said, catching Gail staring.

‘Just checking your bedside manner is up to scratch, doctor.’

‘Uh huh. I would have thought by now you’d had had plenty of opportunity to evaluate my bedside manner. In fact,’ Holly lowered her voice so it was deep and husky, ‘I’ve never had any complaints from you. You seem highly responsive to my bedside,’ Holly paused before saying ‘manner.’

Gail flushed as images of Holly’s actual bedside manner rushed into her head. They were not the least bit doctory. This was not good. Well, not at work at least.

‘You seem a little hot, detective. Should I take your temperature?’ Holly teased.

‘Would it be very wrong of me to kiss you?’ Gail asked.

‘Right here. Right now. Very wrong,’ Holly said. 

Then she ducked her head out of the van and straightened up, looking around quickly. The only pedestrians were a little further down the street and Chloe and the interns were disappearing into the apartment building. Holly ducked her head back in the car and placed a gentle kiss on Gail’s lips. It was quick and it was soft and there was nothing teasing about it. Even if it was little more than a brush against her lips, Gail could feel the love it conveyed and knew straightaway that it was a kiss of relief.

‘I’m sorry you saw that,’ Gail said, understanding, ‘it probably looked a little crazy but we had it under control.’

‘I know, but,’ Holly pushed her glasses back even though they were in place. It was an unconscious habit of hers whenever she was nervous or worried; something Gail had figured out early on.

‘But you worry nonetheless.’

Holly nodded, her mouth twisted apologetically.

Gail grabbed Holly’s shirtfront and pulled her closer. This time the kiss was longer and more intense. If Holly’s kiss spoke of relief then this was a kiss to reassure.

Pulling back, Gail said, ‘we’d better get in there before your minions start destroying evidence.’

Holly smiled wryly. ‘I have every confidence Detective Price will not let that happen.’

‘And eww, nerd you wanted us to make out in a van that transports dead people,’ Gail said as she stood, her tone playfully bratty.

‘You are insane,’ Holly shook her head and laughed.

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

‘For the fourth time what is your name?’

‘Why do you need to know? You haven’t charged me with anything, I haven’t committed any crime,’ the man said, his mouth set in a surly line that Gail knew reminded her of someone.

Gail couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something familiar about him. Had she arrested him before? Interviewed him in connection with another crime? She had a good memory for faces, courtesy of the Peck junior police academy that passed as her childhood, so surely she would recognize him if she’d met him before. 

‘You ran from the scene of a crime. We have the right to take you into custody for questioning, and under law you are obligated to provide your name,’ Gail intoned, ‘besides you ignored a direction from a police officer, and oh lets not forget,’ Gail touched the bandage strip on her cheek, ‘you assaulted a police officer while resisting arrest.’

‘I didn’t do anything,’ the man insisted belligerently.

‘So why’d you run?’

‘No reason.’

‘Man,’ Gail sighed, ‘you are really starting to piss me off. You know the thing I hate more than chasing a suspect. Paperwork.’ She paused and pointed to her cheek, ‘Do you know how much paperwork I’ve had to do because of this. How many forms I’ve had to fill out in triplicate. How many of my superiors I’ve had to convince I’m fit for duty. And you ripped my jeans as well. So you can imagine I’m not a happy traveller and I haven’t got a lot of patience for games. And I’m not a patient person at the best of times, am I Detective Price,’ Gail turned towards Chloe who was seated next to her.

‘Definitely not,’ Chloe agreed.

‘So the longer you hold out, the worse this is going to be for you,’ Gail said as she turned back to the suspect, ‘So once again what is your name?’

‘I’ve got nothing to do with whatever this is.’

Gail looked at the man steadily and didn’t say anything for a minute.

‘You know we found a photo in the apartment of the victim with a man who has an uncanny resemblance to you,’ she said, ‘they look alike, wouldn’t you agree Detective Price.’ The way Gail spoke it was as if she were asking Chloe’s opinion on whether it might rain or not.

‘Spitting image,’ Chloe said sweetly.

‘So we have a photo of you with a victim of a crime. You turn up at her home -the crime scene - and run. I am beginning to think the worst,’ Gail spoke quietly, almost as if she were trying to reason out a much less serious conundrum. ‘Are you feeling the same way Detective Price?’

‘Most certainly, Detective Peck. This doesn’t look good,’ Chloe replied earnestly.

‘I wouldn’t do anything to Rahmi,’ the man spoke in a rush.

‘So you know Rahmi Amir?’ Gail asked.

The man nodded.

‘How well?’

This time the man shrugged. ‘A little.’

‘Why did you assume Rahmi’s been hurt?’

‘I dunno,’ the man’s eyes went wide as he realized how what he had said could be construed, ‘the apartment looked a little trashed. You wouldn’t be questioning me like this if it was just a burglary.’

‘Had some experience with the law have you,’ Gail said.

The man shrugged again.

‘That why you won’t give us your name.’

Another shrug.

‘So you’ve been in the apartment before to visit Rahmi?’

‘Yeah.’

‘But you don’t know her that well. So I guess you probably didn’t know she was four months pregnant when she was murdered.’

The color drained from the man’s face. He went to speak but no sound came out. He was cuffed to the table, but he clenched his fingers into the palms of his hands and Gail got the distinct impression he was fighting hard not to cry. In that instant, she was certain he was not their killer. Still, he knew something. Rahmi was obviously more than a passing acquaintance. Was he the father of the unborn baby? Was he upset because of the loss of Rahmi or the baby or both of them?

‘I want a lawyer. I’m not saying anything until I get a lawyer,’ he said adamantly.

Damn, thought Gail, that hadn’t been the plan. She’d hoped her needling would get him to open up not demand a lawyer. She sighed. 

‘As is your right. We will resume this interview once your lawyer is here. For the purposes of the recording, interview stopped at 11.07 am.’

With that she and Chloe stood and left the interview room. As they exited into the corridor, Gail heard Duncan calling out to her.

‘Ah, excuse me Detective,’ Duncan said, ‘there’s a Doctor Gordon who wants to speak to you privately.’

‘Huh,’ Gail wheeled around, ‘as in Lisa Gordon. Brown hair. Pointy face. Supercilious.’ 

‘Super?’ Duncan looked unsure.

‘You know condescending. Arrogant.’

‘Ah yeah. I put her in interview room two.’

‘You put her in interrogation,’ Gail all but chortled.

‘Did I do wrong,’ Duncan was now looking worried, ‘I thought she had something to do with your case.’

‘Nah, it’s fine. I’ll go speak to her now.’

Lisa was seated on a chair normally reserved for perps. She wasn’t really sitting, perched gingerly as she was on the edge of the chair. Her expression was one of distaste like she was afraid she’d catch something. She looked up as Gail walked in.

‘You don’t have your own office?’

‘That’s not really the way we work around here. Only the white shirts have offices.’

‘White shirts?’

‘The brass. They don’t work the streets. You know what, it’s not important. Why are you here Lisa? Got some unpaid speeding tickets you want me to deal with.’

‘As if I’d come crawling to you if I did, Peck.’

‘Well, I’m guessing it’s hard to keep to the speed limit in that red Porsche. But if there’s nothing I can help you with, I’m in the middle of an investigation, so-.’

‘What did you do to your face?’ Lisa indicated Gail’s cheek.

‘Got it chasing a suspect,’ Gail said blandly.

‘Oh, do you need me to take a look? Maybe it needs stitching.’

‘Nah. Holly already checked it out. It’s superficial.’

‘Well, I hate to break it to you Peck, but all her patients are dead. I, on the other hand, am one of this country’s up and coming plastic surgeons.’

‘Lisa, last time I checked you didn’t need a boob doctor for a minor graze. I’m pretty sure Holly can handle a cut even if she’s not a real doctor.’ The word real was dripping with sarcasm and Gail couldn’t help rolling her eyes. 

‘I was actually trying to do something nice, Peck.’

Gail raised an eyebrow.

‘Anyway, Holly is a real doctor, as you well know. Top of her class,’ Lisa said. 

‘Yeah, yeah. Lisa much as I’d like to once again discuss your disappointment that Holly eschewed fame and fortune for the mediocrity of forensics and what little satisfaction she can glean from bringing killers to justice and grieving families some resolution – and hey what’s that compared to saving the world one boob job at a time - much as I’d like to discuss all of that, I have a job to do.’ Gail reached for the door handle.

‘Wait, wait Gail,’ Lisa said urgently. She had the look of someone bracing for a fall. ‘I came to apologize.’

‘Apologize,’ Gail echoed, ‘I have a feeling you should be talking to Holly not me.’

‘I, well.’ Lisa looked away from Gail.

‘Holly’s refusing to talk to you, isn’t she.’

Lisa nodded miserably.

‘And she’s threatened to move back to Rachel’s so you’re in damage control.’

‘It’s not like that. What I did last night was wrong. I was drunk but that’s no excuse. I know how Holly feels about you and it’s pretty obvious you feel the same way about her.’

‘So why’d you do it?’ Gail sat now in the chair opposite Lisa. It wasn’t lost on her how they were positioned. She as interrogator and Lisa seated in the suspect’s chair.

‘It’s complicated.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail raised an eyebrow as if to say no shit, and then, just like she would with a suspect, waited patiently for Lisa to continue. 

‘Well,’ Lisa said, realizing Gail wasn’t going to help her out, wasn’t going to let her gloss over the incident. ‘Holly and Rachel are like family to me. You know that.’

Gail nodded, tempted to say god knows why Holly considered a smug, stuck up ass like Lisa family. Gail hadn’t met Holly’s parents or her brother yet, but they sounded like decent people so she didn’t get why Holly felt the need to extend that family with someone like Lisa.

‘She is a few years younger than Rachel and me. You know all about how she was accelerated through school because she was so freaking smart.’

Gail nodded.

‘Well, when Holly got to college we sort of took her under our wing. She was still a little starry-eyed and naïve and a bit vulnerable, especially because she’s so caring. The three of us met when we were paired in a study group.’

‘That the real reason you befriended Holly,’ Gail said caustically, ‘you knew she was smart so you figured if you kept her on side she’d help bring up your grades.’

‘It may have had something to do with that,’ Lisa blushed slightly, but said adamantly, ‘at first. Then we became friends – real friends. She wasn’t intimidated by my bitchiness - she’d just ignore it or call me on it. Then she went through the whole discovering her sexuality thing. I was already out, so of course she talked to me about it. Rachel and I held her hand through her first heartbreak. We were there the first time she got really drunk. We even tried ayahuasca in Peru one summer when the three of us travelled through South America.’

Lisa hesitated and Gail tried to imagine the uptight plastic surgeon taking ayahuasca. It obviously hadn’t been much of a mind-altering experience for Lisa. Gail made a note to ask Holly about it.

‘That’s probably something I shouldn’t tell a cop,’ Lisa said.

Gail waved her hand to indicate it was of no matter.

‘Well, did you know we even got arrested together – not that we were charged,’ Lisa added.

‘Was that at the vivisection protest.’

‘Yeah, Holly told you about that.’

Gail nodded again.

‘And the three of us got the professor who was marking Holly down because he was homophobic suspended from the university.’

That was a story Gail hadn’t heard. Something else she’d need to ask Holly about.

‘And I’ve been there for every single one of her bad relationship choices and helped pick her up every single time she broke up.’

‘So you think I’m one of those bad relationship choices.’

'Yes and no.'

Gail raised an eyebrow.

'I did when I first met you,’ Lisa clarified, ’Holly has a bad track record when it comes to choosing girlfriends. They don't stick around, or their project girlfriends or decide they are straight after all.'

'And you thought I was a combination of all three.'

'Yeah, well do you blame me Peck? You were kind of flakey the night we met you.'

'I guess,’ Gail screwed up her face at the thought of that night at the Penny, ‘but do you actually think you gave me much of a chance?'

‘I didn’t think there was much point if you were going to be just like Holly's other girlfriends.’

‘Especially when you decided I was blue collar and not in her league,’ Gail couldn’t help the bitterness in her voice.

‘I wanted Holly to realize you weren’t right for her. That’s why I said those things. I could see Holly had already fallen hard for you. I didn’t want her to get her heart broken.'

'But that's not why you said those things last night is it?'

Lisa looked like she about to deny this but changed her mind. Gail watched as her expression moved from being pinched and haughty, a look she seemed to reserve just for Gail, to something far more artless.

'I was jealous,' she said, her voice small.

'Of me,' Gail laughed, incredulous.

'Not you, exactly. I’m used to having Holly on call, well her and Rachel. We’ve always been there for each other. More constant than any of the people we dated. But now Rachel’s getting serious about Luca, and Holly seems to have forgotten anyone else exists now she’s with you.’

‘So you feel like I’m breaking up the band?’

‘Yes, no, I don’t know. Whenever you and Holly spend the night together, it’s always at your house. I know she has half her clothes over there.’

‘I wouldn’t say it’s half,’ Gail said evenly.

‘And I don’t blame you for staying away. I know I can be a bitch. I just…I miss my friend. I feel like you’ve taken my friend away.’ It was said without malice and Lisa looked down as she finished speaking. 

Gail had never seen Lisa upset before. Sure she’d huffed and griped when she caught Gail and Holly having sex, but Gail had thought she was annoyed rather than distressed. Now Lisa seemed to deflate, her face crumpled dejectedly, as if all the fight and derision and self-importance had drained from her. 

‘But I’ve fucked up that friendship now haven’t I, the way I behaved last night.’ Lisa looked up, her voice hard again.

‘So why did you keep pushing Francine at Holly?’ Gail asked gently.

‘It was stupid. Holly’s only interested in you. She loves you I can see that,’ Lisa stopped then and fixed Gail with a fierce look, ‘you know that right.’

‘Yes, and Lisa don’t worry, I love Holly too. And she knows that. I’m not running from it this time no matter how hard you try to push me away.’

‘I wasn’t, well that wasn’t my intention last night. Not really. You were right. I invited Francine and the other two because it was my birthday and I wanted to get laid. But Francine can’t seem to get the message that Holly is happy with you and that started to piss me off. Then you and Holly wanted nothing to do with me – in fact spent the whole night avoiding me.’

‘Actually it wasn’t about you. I think Holly was only trying to avoid Francine,’ Gail interrupted, ‘which I was fine about.’

‘Oh,’ Lisa said, surprised. ‘ Well, that’s not the way it seemed to me. And then you two were so loved up and I was, I was jealous.’

‘Jealous of us?’ It was Gail’s turn to be surprised.

‘I’ve never come close to experiencing anything like what you and Holly have. In fact I’ve never sustained a relationship for more than a few months. Every time I see you together it rubs it in. And then last night, it all just became too much, and I said those things to Holly. She and Rachel are my best friends. I don’t know why I acted like that.’

‘You lashed out. You were hurt so you hurt her back,’ Gail said, recognizing immediately what Lisa had done. After all Gail knew quite a bit about self-sabotage. Hadn’t that been what she’d done that night at the Penny when she first met Lisa and Rachel. Hadn’t she spent a great deal of her life jumping out of trees, until losing Holly made her realize she had to do something to change that. Otherwise she’d just keep repeating the same mistakes over and over.

‘Yes. I guess I did,’ Lisa conceded but then pouted, ‘God, I didn’t think this would become such a drama.’ 

Really, Gail thought, sometimes Lisa is such a child. She created this mess and now she’s sulking about it. Surely she must know that Holly didn’t do drama. Didn't want drama. Didn't like drama. Gail was well aware of that. It was the reason Holly finally stopped trying after Gail refused to return her calls after the Penny incident, hurt that Gail wouldn’t give her a chance to explain that she didn’t agree with Lisa. 

Gail said nothing but looked directly at Lisa, her expression neutral, her gaze unwavering until Lisa began to fidget and finally cracked.

‘ Of course, I didn’t mean what I said last night. Can you accept that.’

‘Okay,’ Gail said without a great deal of conviction.

‘I can’t help but be protective of Holly and I know that you, well, you –,‘ Lisa faltered, struggling to find the right words.

‘Bring a lot of baggage to the relationship and you wish Holly could be with someone less complicated,’ Gail said, guessing what Lisa was trying to say.

Lisa nodded. ‘It’s not just that. Your job scares her.’

‘I know that. I’ve promised Holly I won’t take unnecessary risks.’

‘Yeah,’ Lisa said doubtfully, looking pointedly at the bandage on Gail’s cheek.

‘I’m still going to get hurt sometimes. But Lisa, I may be complicated but what’s not complicated is the fact that I want to be Holly and I’m going to do everything possible to make sure I don’t fuck up this time.’

‘Actually I can see that,’ Lisa said, ‘and I’ve never seen Holly so happy which has to mean you’re right for her. And I don’t think you’re stupid or out of her league. You must know I didn’t mean all those things I said last night’

‘Yes, I guess,’ Gail said, again not sounding entirely convinced, ‘but it’s not me you should be explaining this to. It’s Holly.’

Lisa’s lip trembled slightly.

‘Oh, that’s right she’s not taking your calls.’

Lisa shook her head miserably. ‘Holly’s never ignored me before. Even the time I went home with a girl she’d been crushing on for months, she still let me explain. I’ve left at least a dozen messages on her phone. I even tried her at work but her annoying assistant won’t put me through.’

Interesting, thought Gail. The not answering calls was more her kind of thing, not Holly’s. She must be really mad with Lisa. They hadn’t discussed it last night. Once the Uber car picked them up, they had spent the whole ride home smiling at each other and stealing kisses when they thought the driver wasn’t looking. Then Holly had run her hand all the way up to the top of Gail’s leg, resting it just on the inside of her thigh, and Gail had found that altogether distracting. 

The Uber driver specialized in making sure women got home safely after a night out. ‘It’s become my niche,’ she had explained to Holly when she had collected her from the airport the day before, ‘it’s a good marketing strategy, it gets me lots of business, but I feel like I’m also doing a community service.’ Holly nodded, happy to have found the solution to Gail’s uneasiness about taking taxis. As she dropped them off in front of Gail’s house, the driver said, ‘you two really are adorable,’ and Gail, to Holly’s surprise, hadn’t bitten the driver’s head off. In fact actually smiled back at her. 

Once inside the house and in Gail’s room, it became a frenzy of pulling off clothes and pushing against each other, their eagerness to touch one another overwhelming any thought of talking. Two weeks had been too long and the interruption that morning had only served to heighten their libidinousness. For Gail too the fact of Holly standing up to Lisa, standing up for her indeed, only added to her fervor.

As she was about to fall asleep, completely satiated, having made Holly come several times and having had the favor returned, Gail remembered to ask about Lisa.

‘I don’t get Lisa. I thought she’d got used to me being with you,’ she said yawning.

Holly had frowned. ‘I don’t really want to think about Lisa right now.’

‘True,’ Gail had agreed, ‘but maybe she’s still mad about walking in on us having sex.’

‘Shh,’ Holly had said. 

They were lying on their sides, facing each other. Holly leant across to kiss Gail’s lips softly. They were a little swollen from kissing and her hair was mussed up, her face relaxed and open. The whole effect was sultry and sexy. The sight of Gail like this, with this kind of post-coital radiance, took Holly’s breath away every single time. But who was she kidding? Gail always took her breath away.

After that Holly had pulled her close and Gail had fallen almost instantly asleep, enveloped as she was in warmth and love. Gail smiled to herself as she remembered that and then at the memory of the way she had woken Holly this morning. How, even though there hadn’t been much time, there had been a spirited reprisal of at least some of the night before. Enough to send them into the day with huge grins on both their faces. 

The sound of Lisa saying her name brought Gail out of this rather pleasant reverie. It was certainly more pleasant thinking about Holly than dealing with Lisa’s shit. Gail became aware that Lisa was giving her an odd look. She realized she was smiling and Lisa would probably think that strange, given they were talking about Lisa’s predicament and in particular Holly’s refusal to take her calls.

‘Can you explain it to her for me,’ Lisa asked hopefully, ‘tell Holly I didn’t mean it.’

‘Lisa, you need to be the one to tell Holly that,’ Gail said firmly. Lisa looked downcast until Gail added, ‘but I’ll tell her she should talk to you.’

‘Okay. Okay, that’s fair enough’ Lisa nodded, ‘she’ll listen to you. I know she will.’

‘And now I really must get back to work.’ Gail stood.

‘Of course,’ Lisa said, also standing, ‘should we hug or something.’

‘No,’ Gail shook her head vigorously, her eyes wide with alarm, ‘it’s not really the way I communicate.’

‘Okay,’ Lisa said with some relief, ‘but Peck I gotta say talking to you is much better than a session with my therapist. Cheaper too.’

‘Actually Lisa, I think you owe me another one of those expensive bottles of tequila,’ Gail said, holding open the door for Lisa.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Soon after the suspect’s lawyer arrived and Gail and Chloe were back in the interview room. Gail sensed something in the man’s demeanor had changed. His face was no longer closed off and he looked at Gail expectantly. She hoped it was a sign that he wanted to talk. 

‘Now that your lawyer is present, can you please state your name?’ Gail said.

The man looked at his lawyer, a woman in her mid forties who had a pleasant round face and a dimply smile. She nodded encouragingly. 

‘Tom. Thomas Harrison. I swear I didn’t do anything to Rahmi. Please you need to tell me what happened to her.’

‘Mr Harrison, Rahmi was murdered four days ago.’

‘I wasn’t in Toronto,’ Tom said, biting his lip hard. Again Gail had the impression it was to stop himself from crying.

‘So where were you?’

‘Calgary. I went a week ago. My mother was dying. We buried her the day before yesterday. I only got back to Toronto last night.’

‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ Gail said, ‘and I hate to ask this but can anyone verify that?’

‘My half sister.’

‘Can you give us a name and contact number?’ 

Even as she asked, Gail knew the answer to this question, knew she had the half sister’s contact number stored in her own phone, knew suddenly why Tom had seemed so familiar. That surly set of the mouth looked slightly different on a man, the narrow chin didn’t work either but their coloring was the same, as were the green almond shaped eyes.

‘I think you probably already know her. She’s a detective here at 15.’

Gail almost said the name aloud before Tom did. 

‘Her name’s Francine Anderson,’ he said.


	28. Twenty-eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters.
> 
> Sorry for the later update. I went away for five days and didn't get a chance to update before that. It is quite a long chapter so hopefully that will make up for it.
> 
> Thanks as ever for the comments, kudos, subscriptions and bookmarks and for reading. It is so great to get your feedback.
> 
> Apologies for any mistakes -I proof this myself. I hope you enjoy this. Let me know - I love to hear what you think!

Where are you?' Gail asked.

'At Alannah's place,' Frankie explained.

'You stayed at Alannah's place last night,' Gail said, trying not to sound surprised or disapproving.

'Yeah, why do you care Peck?'

'I'm just surprised. You were pretty wasted last night.'

'Not the first time I've hooked up when I'm drunk.'

'No, but you actually like Alannah. A lot. I can tell. So why fuck it up by going home with her drunk?' Gail persisted.

'Who said I fucked up anything or had sex for that matter. Alannah just gave me a place to crash,' Frankie said, ignoring Gail's observation about her feelings for the doctor.

When Gail called Frankie to say they needed her at the station, Frankie had groaned.

'I'm not due back for another two days. I'm still half-drunk. Can't it wait? You can run this investigation without me, Gail. Even if your mother is most probably insinuating otherwise.'

'I need to speak to you in connection with the investigation,' Gail paused. 

Normally it was best not to give witnesses too much information. The element of surprise sometimes made them unwittingly reveal things. But this was Frankie and Frankie was straight down the line when it came to the law and Gail knew she could trust her. She could feel Frankie's impatience growing as the pause lengthened, so Gail made a quick decision. 

'We've pulled your brother Tom in for questioning. He won't tell us anything until he speaks to you.'

'The woman in the suitcase,' Frankie said. It had been all over the news and Gail had confirmed she was working the case when Frankie asked last night.

'Yeah.'

'Okay, don't tell me anything more, Gail,' Frankie said, suddenly all business, 'if my brother's involved you need to keep me at arm's length from this investigation.'

'I know,' Gail said, noting that Frankie hadn't expressed any surprise that her brother was in custody.

They'd pulled Tom's record and found some minor charges for possession and dealing weed, for which he'd done some community service. Then there was the five year stint in prison for aggravated assault.

'Are you able to come to the station now?' Gail asked.

'I don't have my car. I'm not at home. Anyway, the amount I drank last night, I probably shouldn't be driving.'

That's when Gail found out that Frankie had spent the night at Alannah's. She offered to pick Frankie up or send a squad car, but Frankie had refused.

'Probably best if I get a cab,' she told Gail.

When Frankie arrived at the station, she presented herself at the desk and asked for Detective Peck. Duncan was on desk duty and looked at her warily.

'Just go right through,' he told Frankie, wondering if this was some sort of test or if the two detectives were messing with him, 'Detective Peck's in the pen.'

Frankie shook her head. 'Just ask her or Detective Price to come get me, Officer Moore.'

'But you can go,' Duncan started to say.

'Officer Moore, just do what I'm asking,' Frankie cut across him, her voice firm.

Duncan swallowed and nodded.

Frankie went and sat in one of the hard plastic chairs opposite the desk and waited. She heard Duncan call Gail. He was speaking quietly now, like he knew something was up. Not so quiet that she didn't hear him say, 'Detective Anderson said she won't go in until you or Detective Price come out.' Then he shot her a furtive look. Except it wasn't the least bit furtive and he quickly looked away, his cheeks reddening.

Sitting there, it took her back to the last time she waited for Tom in a police station. It was 12 years ago. She was still a rookie, barely out of the Academy, when she got the call from her mother. Aggravated assault. The victim might not make it - a king hit. Tom denied he did it. Swore black and blue it wasn't him who threw the punch.

'You have to come,' her mother said, convinced Tom was being framed, 'you're police. You speak their language.' She wasn't begging Frankie. The rancor with which she said 'you're police' made that clear. No, it was more an expectation. An obligation and Frankie couldn't say no.

It was a one and half hour car trip to Kitchener. Then Frankie sat for another two hours with her mother on the hard plastic chairs watching people approach the desk. A witness wanting to give a statement, another willing to alibi a suspect, a good citizen handing in a bunch of stolen wallets he'd found in a local park, a woman concerned she hadn't seen her elderly neighbor for a week, and a nervous teenager with his grim faced mom waiting to be questioned over a vandalism incident. It was the same parade she dealt with back in Toronto, except there she was on the other side of the desk, the uniform giving her an authority, a presence that, depending on the person she was dealing with, either reassured or instilled fear and loathing.

Finally the investigating officers spoke to them. Possibly a tad less brusque once they knew she was in uniform, but not much. Survellience footage showed Tom leaving the bar directly after the victim and his friends. He was wearing a blue hoody and, as he left the bar, pulled it down low over his head against the chill night air. There were no cameras in the alleyway outside the bar, and it was a dark night, but the victim's friends swore it was Tom. They remembered the hoodie.

Frankie hired a lawyer and they went through the footage. Problem was Tom had confronted the victim earlier in the night, when the guy stumbled and spilt his beer down Tom's back. An altercation ensued. Not much. Just angry words. Rewinding the footage, Frankie spotted the second guy with the blue hoodie. He looked a little like Tom and had left the bar just before the victim and, like Tom, pulled the hood low over his head. Turned out he was the son of a judge.

'He's been cleared of suspicion,' the lead investigating officer said, his eyes shifting sideways, unable to look directly at Frankie. She wondered if he'd been bribed.

Her mother screamed at the verdict. Tom was her good boy - the only one of her children to stick around and look out for her. She blamed Frankie. 'What good are you to us. You were useless growing up and you're no better now. You aren't family, you're just one of them,' Sherry said, pointing to an uniformed cop standing outside the courtroom. Then she told Frankie to never come back.

So Frankie left and didn't see her mother until seven days ago, when she lay frail beneath the hospice blankets, the barrel chest a tell tale sign of emphysema. Every breath painful, her skin tinged blue from lack of oxygen, her body rattling, racked with a cough that just wouldn't stop. It hurt to watch.

Frankie hadn't known Sherry was dying until Tom called. Wasn't aware he'd moved to Toronto until then, her mother managing to drive even the good son out. Frankie despised herself for being there. Despised herself more for wishing she were somewhere else, tried to find a wellspring of compassion as her mother, even as she drew her last gasping, ghastly breaths, cursed Frankie still.

It wasn't long before Gail appeared looking apologetic, which was uncharacteristic for her.

'You didn't need to wait out here, Frankie,' Gail said. Her voice was soft, her concern palpable and entirely unwelcome, in fact irksome to Frankie.

'Best we do this by the book,' Frankie answered tightly.

Gail nodded and led her through to an interview room. Out of habit Frankie went to the side where she normally sat when interviewing a witness or a suspect. At the last minute, realising her mistake, she moved to the opposite side of the table. Chloe was standing just inside the door and Frankie caught the look she and Gail exchanged and hated the compassion it held.

'Frankie,' Gail said, her voice soft and unhurried but her words formal, 'your brother, Tom Harrison is being questioned in relation to the murder of Rahmi Ahmir.'

Gail paused and Frankie nodded.

'When did you last see Tom?'

'Two days ago at my mother's funeral,' Frankie said, 'he called me a week ago from Kitchener to tell me that our mother was dying. I left that evening. Tom and I both returned to Toronto yesterday. I left Kitchener in the morning and Tom in the late afternoon.'

Gail wanted to say something. The standard 'I'm sorry for your loss' didn't seem appropriate here, and yet anything else would be too personal, particularly when Frankie wanted to be treated like any other witness. Her mother's death explained why Frankie had got a head start on drinking last night. It was a wonder she was still coherent when she showed at the club.

Gail didn't know much about Frankie's family. Only what Frankie had let slip in unguarded moments before clamming up. Her regret at her candor making her savage so any question or comment you dared make would be met with a rebuff. However, Gail had gleaned that Frankie had nothing to do with her family and that her mother was a piece of work. Not in the same way as Elaine. Still even if Sherry had gone about it differently, just like Elaine she was controlling and a bully, and Frankie, just like Gail, had had to get out or be suffocated.

'Are you certain that Tom remained in Kitchener that whole time?' Chloe asked.

'It was a bedside vigil,' Frankie said testily.

'Kitchener is only a 90 minute drive away. Any chance Tom could have ducked out. Maybe there was a day when he was gone for a stretch of time,' Gail said.

Frankie turned and regarded Gale for a moment. Gail shifted a little under her scrutiny, and wished she could tell the detective that she and Chloe didn't like doing this anymore than Frankie did.

'Tom didn't leave the hospice at all,' Frankie finally said. 'They provide some accommodation for relatives and he chose to sleep there. I was at a near-by motel, but I spent most of the time at the hospice with Tom.'

'How can you be certain he didn't leave hospice when you went to the motel to sleep?'

'I barely went to the motel,' Frankie laughed derisively, 'I should have saved my money. I snatched a couple of hours sleep here and there. Tom was always by my mother's bedside when I returned. You can verify that with the hospice staff, but I hardly think it was enough time to make a three hour round trip, plus commit a murder and dump the body.'

'What about last Tuesday,' Gail asked, referring to the day Rahmi had been left at the bus terminal, 'can you vouch for Tom?'

'Look to be honest, the days kind of meld, but Tom was always there. Look Gail, he wouldn't do something like this. He's not that kind of guy.'

'No,' the way Gail said the word it was more of a question, 'and yet he served five years for aggravated assault.'

'That was,' Frankie stopped. How many times had she heard family members say this very thing: that their child or sibling or father or mother was not capable of committing a violent act. How many times in this very room had she looked across knowingly at Gail, and felt a mix of pity and derision at the person's gullibility. Still she couldn't help but say something in defence of her brother. 'It wasn't a sound conviction.'

'No,' Gail said again, and again it sounded like a question, and again Frankie hated the look of sympathy on her face. 'Did he take the fall for someone else?'

Frankie shouldn't have been surprised by how astute Gail was. 'Not willingly,' she said.

'That why he mistrusts police.'

Frankie nodded.

Gail sighed. She seemed to be considering something for a moment.

'It's irregular, and I know you want to do this by the book, but Tom won't tell us anything until he gets some sort of reassurance from you. Would you speak to him? Detective Price and I would be present, of course.'

'Of course,' Frankie said, 'and his lawyer.'

'Oh,' Gail said almost as an afterthought as she began to rise out of her chair, 'did you know Rahmi Amir was four months pregnant when she was killed? If Tom's the father, I guess that would have made you an aunt.'

Frankie knew not to flinch. Knew what Gail was doing. Getting her off kilter. Damn she was good. Well, Frankie told her to do this right.

'You want to know what I know about their relationship?' she said, deciding not to beat around the bush.

Gail nodded.

'I hadn't seen Tom for years until he called me from the hospice. I didn't even know he'd lived in Toronto for the past year. He told me he'd met Rahmi six months ago and he was in love. He said it was the real deal, but he was scared. He hasn't got a good track record when it comes to relationships. Kind of a family trait,' Frankie couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. 'He didn't want to fuck up this time.'

'So he didn't mention anything about the pregnancy?' Chloe asked.

'No.'

'Would he have been happy about the pregnancy,' Gail asked.

'Yeah, of course,' Frankie started to say, 'actually to be honest I don't know him well enough to say. We had such a fucked up childhood it made me swear never to inflict that upon kids.'

The revelation - personal and raw and full of hurt – took Gail and Chloe by surprise. Frankie had never spoken to either of them about whether she wanted children. Gail had always sensed not. Frankie didn't exactly gravitate towards children when they were around. Not in the way Gail did. It made sense now.

'Tom did tell me that Rahmi has an over-protective half-brother. He didn't like Tom. I jokingly said I could send some uniforms to shake him down, but Tom said Rahmi knew how to handle him.'

…...

Holly stood back as the interns stowed the gear in the back on the fan. Her phone pinged and she half hoped it was a text from Gail. When Gail and Chloe had finally left to go back to the station, Holly had made an excuse to follow her out into the corridor. She hadn't wanted to leave Natasha and Wilson on their own but she needed to reassure herself Gail was okay. At least Robinson was standing watch just inside the entrance to the apartment where the crime tape had been strung up. The officer had returned from 15 with Chris and Andy, who were now canvassing the building.

'Gail,' Holly called out softly as Gail reached the very doors she had seen her burst out of not half an hour before.

Gail turned and smiled, then winced a little and Holly could see her cheek was hurting her.

'I'll wait in the car,' Chloe said, sensing Holly wanted a private moment with Gail. Without waiting for a reply, she slipped out the front.

'Are you okay?' Holly asked as she reached Gail, raising one hand to examine her cheek.

'Yeah, I've had far worse.'

Which didn't reassure Holly at all. Her hand stilled in the air and her eyes widened. She tried to suppress the look of alarm on her face but failed miserably and in the next moment Gail was laughing.

'It's okay nerd. I'm still in one piece. It's not, it's never that bad.'

But it was, it had been that bad. Holly knew that. Knew Gail's body bore the physical and emotional scars of her job. She knew too, that despite this, Gail kept putting herself on the line because it was her job, because she'd pledged to protect and serve, because the weight and the seriousness of that responsibility had been drummed into her from an early age and she would no more shirk it than stop loving Holly. Gail might not show it, but Holly knew too that she went out there day after day because she cared.

Gail took a step towards Holly and, taking the hand that a moment ago had been suspended in front of her face, ran her thumb gently, soothingly across Holly's palm. Then without letting go, Gail looked directly into Holly's eyes, and Holly felt her heart stutter and the breath catch in her throat at the love she saw there. Then Gail kissed her. It surprised Holly that Gail didn't bother to check they were alone. She took Holly's bottom lip between her own and tugged ever so slightly, her teeth scrapping lightly so Holly for a second forgot where they were and instinctively moved to press herself against Gail, but then stopped herself.

'Later, nerd,' Gail said, pulling back and Holly couldn't figure out if the bravado was real or mustered for her sake.

As soon as Holly was back in the apartment, Natasha asked if Detective Peck was alright and Holly caught herself just in time before she rolled her eyes.

Now outside the van, she checked her phone. It was a voice message from Rachel. No doubt telling her she should talk to Lisa. Holly decided to ignore the message for now. If she really had decided to cut Lisa out of her life, she needed a plan for how that would work, especially as up to now their lives had been so entangled. Holly knew that Rachel, conciliatory by nature, would try to persuade her to forgive Lisa. But dammit, thought Holly, suffused by the same burn of anger she'd felt last night when Lisa yet again undermined Gail, in fact undermined her relationship with Gail, she'd had enough of Lisa.

When they were younger Lisa's bitchiness had been amusing. Back then her acerbity was wittily perceptive and she had mainly directed it at people who deserved it. Which when Holly thought about it was a bit like Gail with her snark. Holly had believed Lisa would mellow over time, but instead she had become more vindictive and obnoxious, and her snobbery seemed to increase with every passing year.

Holly decided she and Rachel were like the frog in boiling water. Just as the frog didn't realize as the water slowly got hotter and hotter that it was killing it, so they had become so inured to Lisa they couldn't see how poisonous, how destructive she had become. Last night Holly had finally had enough. Enough of pandering to Lisa. Enough of her insinuations and put downs. Enough of her elitist bullshit

...

Tom looked up keenly when they entered the interview room with Frankie. Gail noticed a look of relief cross his face. She wondered if Tom had looked up to his big sister when they were growing up. Frankie told Gail she a loner – had in fact distanced herself from the family but was Tom the exception? Had he counted on her to get him out of strife? And if so, how far was Frankie willing to go to keep him out of trouble?'

Frankie pulled up a chair next to Tom, while Gail and Chloe sat opposite. The lawyer was on the other side of Tom.

'These are good people,' Frankie said, 'I trust them, Tom. They are like family to me. If you tell them the truth, they'll do right by you.'

Tom looked at Frankie for a beat, then over at Gail and Chloe. 'Okay,' he finally said, expelling a rush of air with the word.

'Frankie told me you cared about Rahmi, Gail said gently, 'I'm hoping you'll tell us what you know so we can catch whoever did this.'

Tom nodded.

'I hadn't seen her for two months. I've been working on the offshore oil rigs in Newfoundland. Saving up. We wanted to get a place of our own. I was on my way home when I got the call my mother was dying so I went straight to Kitchener instead.'

'When did you last speak to Rahmi?'

'Five days ago.'

Gail exchanged a look with Chloe. Five days ago. That was when Rehmi was murdered.

'At what time?'

'6.30 pm. Rahmi had just finished work. She's a nurse. Was.' Tom stopped and grimaced. 'We only spoke briefly. Rahmi was expecting Zaheer, her half-brother. He invited himself over. There was a knock on the door. I, we both assumed it was him and Rahmi hung up.'

'Invited himself over? So would Rahmi have been pleased to see him?'

Tom shook his head.

'They weren't close. Zaheer came here with his parents from Pakistan when he was a teenager. His mother died not long after and his father married Rahmi's mother about five years later. By the time Rahmi came along, Zaheer had left home. Apparently he made it clear that he didn't like his step-mother, resented the fact that she was taking his mother's place.'

'So if they weren't close why did Rahmi agree to see Zaheer?'

'Her parents died in a car accident about 18 months ago. Zaheer decided that it was his duty to look out for her. Rahmi said he was quite sweet about it at first but then he became controlling. Started telling Rahmi what she should do and what she should wear. He thought it was wrong of her to go out at night with her girlfriends and said her clothing was, as he put it "immodest." He wasn't happy when I showed up.'

'That still doesn't explain why Rahmi agreed to see Zaheer.'

'She said when he phoned and asked to come over, Zaheer had said he wanted to make amends, to apologize for his behavior. Rahmi is,' Tom caught himself again and stopped, then swallowed thickly before continuing, 'was a really sweet person. Generous and kind-hearted. She wouldn't think twice about giving him a second chance.'

'Did you feel okay about Rahmi seeing him?'

'Not really. I didn't trust him and it seems like I had good reason not too.'

'Do you think he would be capable of murder?' Gail said.

'I don't know, maybe,' Tom paused for a moment, 'When I said he became controlling it bordered on the obsessive. It made me worried for Rahmi, but she would laugh it off. Said he was harmless.'

'Did he ever threaten her?' Chloe asked.

'Not that I know of. Rahmi said it was mainly verbal abuse. Telling her she was bringing shame on the family name. He said she should be more subservient, more respectful to him and that she should act like a good Pakistani woman not a white whore.'

'Did he ever physically harm her?' Chloe asked.

'One time. It was just before Rahmi and I met. She said Zaheer came to her house in a rage. He'd seen her out with friends at a club. He shouted at her and grabbed her upper arms and shook her. Rahmi said it left her with bruises.'

'So he backed off when you and Rahmi started seeing each other?' Gail asked.

'Yeah, but he wasn't exactly excited about us. He wanted to marry her off to someone in the Pakistani community.'

'So how would he have reacted to her pregnancy?'

'Not well,' Tom bit his lip, before continuing a little hesitantly, 'I didn't know Rahmi was pregnant. As I said we haven't seen each other for two months. We had talked about kids, even though we'd only been together for a short time, but it didn't matter to us. You know when you just know that this is it, that this person, this relationship is right. Is everything you ever dreamed of and looked for and dared to hope might be yours one day.'

Gail nodded. Yep, she knew that feeling. There had only ever been one person who made her feel that way. One person who she knew almost from the beginning was a certainty and one person who she almost lost through her stupidity. The loss of Holly had almost destroyed her, so what must Tom be going through knowing there were no second chances with Rahmi. That she would never come back.

'Rahmi said she had a surprise for me when I got back to Toronto she hoped I'd be happy about. Then I got called to Kitchener so I never found out what the surprise was.'

'But you think it was the pregnancy,' Chloe said.

Tom nodded. So, Gail thought, that explained Tom's shocked reaction to the news Rahmi was pregnant.

'How often did you usually speak to Rahmi?'

'Every couple of days'

'So what did you think when you didn't hear from her?'

'I was starting to get worried. I left a few messages, but then my mother died and I was dealing with that. I tried to call again then. I went round to her place last night when I got back to Toronto but she didn't answer the door. I thought she must be on the night shift which is why I came round again this morning.'

'Rahmi didn't give you a key to the apartment?' Chloe asked.

'No. I guess when she didn't answer my calls, I began to think maybe she'd dumped me.'

'Any reason she would?' Gail said.

'No,' Tom shook his head miserably, 'we were happy. I guess I'm kinda damaged goods so I couldn't believe my luck that someone like her could love me.'

Gail nodded. Life could be so heartbreakingly, so agonisingly cruel. She felt Tom's raw grief and wondered if he would ever come back from this. Deciding it best to change tack, she shifted the focus back to Zaheer.

'Do you know where Zaheer works?' she asked gently.

'He's a bus driver.'

...

'You've got a suspect?' Holly asked, 'Not the guy you tackled?'

'No. Turns out the guy I tackled is Frankie's half-brother.' Gail let that bombshell drop and waited for Holly's reaction. She wasn't disappointed.

Holly's eyebrows shot up and her eyes bugged slightly with amazement.

'That is one hell of a coincidence.'

'Six degrees and all that,' Gail said.

'Is Frankie okay? Does she know? I mean I didn't even know she had family - she never talks about them.'

Gail couldn't help smiling a little that Holly's first reaction was to be concerned about Frankie. There was absolutely no reason for Holly to like or even care about Frankie. Gail knew how overbearing the detective could be and how she would get a perverse kick out of reminding Holly that she had had sex with Gail. And at some level that must irk Holly. Frankie was the second woman Gail had slept with. The one who made her, well not get over Holly because that had been impossible, but who'd helped her move on.

Yet Holly accepted Frankie because she was Gail's friend, just as Gail put up with Lisa. Although Holly didn't goad Frankie. Not in the way Gail sometimes did Lisa. Gail had to admit it. She was still sometimes somewhat of a child when it came to Lisa. Although the boob job doctor did ask for it. Which reminded her, she needed to be mature and talk to Holly about Lisa.

'Yeah Frankie knows,' Gail made a face.

'Oh, oh,' Holly said, putting an extra emphasis on the second 'oh' as she realized what this meant, 'you had to interview her.'

'Yeah and I hope Frankie still counts me as a friend.'

'Oh, Gail,' Holly said sympathetically, moving so she could place a hand on Gail's arm. She left it there briefly and then stepped back. They were standing in an autopsy suite and Holly was conscious the interns or any of the morgue staff could interrupt them. 'Surely Frankie of all people will understand it's your job.'

Gail shrugged. 'I guess. Anyway I don't think Tom – Frankie's brother - is the killer. He gave us a name though. Zaheer, Rahmi's half-brother.'

'Half-brother. That fits with the hair we discovered on the robe cord. By the way, we found the robe. It was in the bathroom. I'd say it belonged to Rahmi. So are you bringing this guy in?'

'We sent some uniforms over to Zaheer's apartment. No one was there. Chloe's just calling some of Tom's alibis back in Kitchener. That's where he and Frankie have been this past week - by their mother's death bed.'

'Oh, poor Frankie,' Holly said, 'that's really tough. No wonder she was drinking so much last night.'

'Yeah, being Frankie it's complicated. I don't think she and her mother were on speaking terms, which may actually make her death worse for Frankie.'

Holly nodded understandingly.

'Anyway, I thought it was worth checking to see if you'd found anything at the scene,' Gail continued, 'then Chloe and I are going to meet Chris and Andy back at Zaheer's apartment. See if he has shown up.'

'Is he a bus driver like you thought?'

'Was,' Gail said, 'We spoke to his manager. Apparently he's been behaving a little erratically at work over the last month and the manager fired him yesterday.'

'Erractic. How?'

'Late for shifts. Didn't show for work a few times. Rude, even aggressive with passengers and staff at the terminals. The manager said Zaheer began to look unkempt like he wasn't bathing or changing his clothes.'

'So someone whose life was unraveling by the sounds of it. A state of mind that might make him more likely to kill.'

'Yeah,' Gail agreed, 'anyway did you and the minions find anything in the apartment that could help us?'

'Not a lot,' Holly made a rueful face. 'He knew about wiping fingerprints so nothing on the wineglass or the plates or the cutlery or tabletop. We did lift some prints from the pizza box. Until you make an arrest we won't know if they belong to the killer.'

'Okay. That's a start.'

Holly nodded. 'I did, however, find quite a bit more of his hair on the dinning chair and even the carpet.'

'Is that normal?' Gail asked, 'to be shedding so much hair.'

'No. It's possible he's suffering from Alopecia Areata.'

'I'm guessing that has something to do with hair loss.'

'Yes, it's an autoimmune condition that affects the hair follicles. For some reason the body's immune system gets the wrong signal and mistakenly attacks the hair follicles. It causes hair to fall out in small, round patches about the size of a quarter. Most people with the disease will only get a few bald patches but some lose more hair. I'm not sure if stress is a factor, but it's possible it could cause hair to fall out at a greater rate.'

'And the killer would have been stressed,' Gail said, inwardly smiling at the way Holly could rattle off medical facts. 'It fits with the way the manager described Zaheer's behavior. The manager also said Zaheer was unkempt – maybe the hair loss contributed to that impression.'

'Makes sense. He certainly wouldn't have looked well groomed with a bunch of irregular bald patches.'

Gail pondered that for a moment and then said, 'What I don't get is if she knew she was pregnant why did Rahmi drink wine?'

'I don't think she did,' Holly said, not the least troubled by Gail's sudden switch of focus. 'Her prints were on the wine glass that was knocked over. From the spill, I'd say the glass was full.'

'So how did she ingest the barbiturates?'

'There was an empty glass in the kitchen with traces of orange juice and pentobarbital. He must have slipped it in there.'

'So she was drugged even before they sat down to eat dinner. Perhaps he hoped the wine would speed up the effects of the drug.'

'Yep. It also might explain the upturned chair. Perhaps she fell off the chair as she lost consciousness. Maybe even knocked the wine glass over as she went.'

'Mm,' Gail considered this for a moment, 'Did you find her phone?'

'No sign of it. Is it important?'

'It could be. Chloe is going to pull Rahmi's phone records anyway, but it will help corroborate Tom's version of events. You said it's likely the killer put Rahmi in the suitcase right after he killed her – otherwise rigor mortis would have set in. So any idea when the body was removed from the apartment?

'Hard to tell, I'm afraid,' Holly make an apologetic face, 'it's possible he took it with him that night or even returned the following morning to collect it before he dumped it at the terminal.'

'Okay. Thanks,' Gail said a little distractedly, clearly mulling over the information. 'Hey, I need to go now. Price will be waiting for me out front.'

Holly nodded and then took a step towards Gail.

'How are you holding up,' she said reaching up to touch the side of Gail's face, 'with this and Frankie.'

'Yeah, I'm alright' Gail said and Holly could see she was trying to be resolute.

'Your cheek is looking a bit swollen. Have you iced it?'

'A little. We have been a bit preoccupied Holly,' Gail drawled but she was smiling, 'Lisa was all prepared to stitch me up, and I don't mean metaphorically.'

'You spoke to Lisa,' Holly removed her hand from Gail's cheek and took a step back.

Gail wondered if she was imagining it, but Holly's manner instantly seemed less warm.

'Actually, I saw her. Lisa came to the station. She wants to talk to you. Apologize,' Gail said, realizing she couldn't avoid telling Holly now. She hadn't meant for Holly to find out like this. Gail had planned to find a suitable moment to raise the subject but then the comment about Lisa and the stitches had just slipped out.

'I hope you showed her the door.'

'Holly, I got the impression she was genuinely upset. She realizes she crossed a line. I think you should hear her out.'

'Really?' Holly said, screwing up her face in disbelief, 'I've spent too much time putting up with Lisa putting me down and I'm sick of having to justify why I'm with you every time I see her.'

'Maybe she has good reason to be protective of you. I can be a screw-up and I wasn't exactly acting like girlfriend material that first time I met her.'

'Oh, Gail,' Holly sighed, and Gail couldn't tell whether it was from exacerbation or despair that she would think this of herself, 'Lisa was a total bitch that night.'

'But Holly, that's just Lisa. You've said that too many times to count. Don't we just roll our eyes and ignore her or better still yank her chain.' Gail tried for some levity without success.

'Gail, honey, I don't know why you're suddenly her champion. It's not like she's ever been very accepting of you' Holly said.

'Yeah, yeah I know but I haven't made a huge effort with her either. I can see why she feels excluded by us.'

'Lisa feels excluded,' Holly said incredulous. 'Lisa is expert at manipulating people and, honey, she's well and truly played you.'

'I think I can tell if someone's playing me, Holly,' Gail said, fighting to keep her voice level and trying not to be offended Holly believed she could be so easily duped by Lisa. 'You know Lisa cares about you. Why else would she put herself through the humiliation of apologizing to me and asking me to get you to speak to her? I think she wants to make this right.'

'Yeah? If she really cared, then Lisa would respect my choices including the fact I'm with you.'

'But haven't you got a history of choosing bad girlfriends?'

'Lisa told you that?'

Gail nodded.

'And you believed her?'

Again Gail nodded.

'Gail, I have had some very nice girlfriends and some duds but none of them met Lisa's ridiculously impossible standards, including, or perhaps most of all, you. That's why I played down our relationship that night at the Penny. It wasn't the first time Lisa had given me that crap.'

'Oh,' Gail said, immediately wondering how many nice girlfriends Holly had had and why it was she would have preferred they were not nice, which was kind of strange because all Gail wanted was for Holly to be happy.

Well, if Gail was really honest all she really wanted was for Holly to be happy with her. And of course she wanted Holly's past relationships to have been happy ones. Didn't she? It was not like Holly's life began the day they met, even if a tiny part of Gail wished it had. It would certainly make things less complicated. But that was not how life worked. Nor should it. Holly was who she was because of all the things that had gone before, including those girlfriends good and bad, and including Lisa and all her pretentious stupidity. Gail shook her head slightly as if to clear the jumble of thoughts swirling around in her head. One thing she did know was ignoring your best friend had never been the key to happiness.

'You've known Lisa all your adult life,' Gail tried again, 'she and Rachel are your oldest friends. You can't just throw that away.'

'You know what Gail, sometimes you outgrow your friends, and once that happens the best thing is to move on. I don't get why you agreed to do Lisa's dirty work for her.'

'I'm not,' Gail shook her head and sighed, 'I just said I'd ask you to talk to her.'

'So now you have and I haven't changed my mind. I don't want to speak to Lisa. Can we drop the subject now,' Holly said, and Gail detected a note of impatience in her voice.

Gail couldn't understand what was happening here. She'd only been trying to help, certain Holly wasn't serious about cutting Lisa off, but now the conversation seemed to have gone down a rabbit hole and Gail couldn't figure how to turn it back around.

'Does your behavior remind you of anyone?' she asked quietly.

Holly shook her head.

'You're acting just like me when I refused to take your calls after that night at the Penny. I was being a child and it was stupid. Fine, cut off from Lisa, but don't you think you owe it to her to tell her that's what you're doing?'

Holly looked at Gail steadily and said nothing.

'Is that what you decided after I refused to take your calls. It was time to move on. Because you'd outgrown me or maybe you realized you were out of my league, because what would someone as worked out as you are want to do with someone as emotionally stunted as me.'

'Gail,' Holly said, 'that's unfair.'

'Yeah. Well it seems to me that you find it easier to move on than resolve your problems.'

'Gail,' Holly started to say but was interrupted by the arrival of Chloe.

'Hi Holly,' she said breezily, 'Gail, you ready to go to go?' As she spoke Chloe surmised from the rigid poses both women had struck and the tense expressions on their faces that she'd walked into an argument. 'I can wait outside until your ready Gail,' she offered.

'No, 'Gail said quietly, 'I think we're done here.' She pushed off from the counter she had been leaning against.

Chloe gave Holly a sympathetic half smile. As Gail reached the door, Chloe just behind her, Holly called out.

'Gail, wait,'

Gail stopped and turned, her face impassive.

'Just, just stay safe, both of you,' Holly said, sounding a lot less annoyed, in fact if anything sounding somewhat contrite.

Gail gave a curt nod, and Chloe shot Holly another sympathetic look.

'We'll talk later,' Holly offered, 'okay?'

'Yeah, okay' Gail said, softening. She gave Holly a small uncertain smile.

'And you know I'm not annoyed with you. I'm just -," Holly started to say, tilting her head to one side with that understanding smile she seemed to reserve just for Gail, but before she could finish Natasha and Wilson appeared at the door.

'Detective Peck,' Natasha greeted Gail exuberantly.

It seemed to Holly that the intern's eyes lit up the moment she saw Gail.

'How's your cheek?' Natasha took a step towards Gail to, it appeared, inspect Gail for herself.

Gail's eyes widened and she practically flattened herself against the door before doing a kind of sideways crab move through the doorway so she was suddenly out in the corridor.

'Come on Price,' she said gruffly, striding off.

Holly cursed the interns' timing. She didn't like the way the conversation had gone. She was angry with Lisa not Gail. It maddened Holly that Lisa would dare ask Gail to plead her case. She still blamed Lisa for that first time she and Gail broke up. Then ever since Holly had returned to Toronto, Lisa had bagged out Gail at every opportunity. No matter if it were an overt slight or a sly little dig, the underlying message was always that Holly could do better. Lisa made it abundantly clear to Holly she was tolerating Gail for Holly's sake. Yet she had no qualms about asking Gail to intercede on her behalf. It was beyond outrageous Holly decided. Yet entirely typical, knowing, as she did, not to expect any better of Lisa.

Holly realized Natasha and Wilson were looking at her expectantly. So she snapped out of her reverie and set them to work on a task. All the while she couldn't help seeing that uncertain smile on Gail's face as she left the autopsy suite. It bothered Holly. They didn't normally argue. In fact this might be the biggest disagreement they had had since getting back together. Still, she thought their relationship was resilient enough for a few cross words not to matter.

But then there was that uncertain smile. It meant only one thing, Holly decided. She'd hurt Gail. Holly felt that burn of anger in her chest again. Damn, if Lisa wasn't causing more problems for them. Now Holly was annoyed with herself for being short with Gail, when Gail was only trying to do what she thought was right. Holly was sure of one thing then. She needed to apologize to Gail. She reached for her phone in the pocket of her lab coat and then remembered she'd left it upstairs in her office. When the interns finished up, she'd go and retrieve it and call Gail. Leave Gail a message reminding her she loved her.

...

Once out of the room, Chloe struggled to match the pace set by Gail as she practically marched down the corridor.

'Want to tell me anything about what was going on back there,' Chloe said as they left the building and she properly caught up with Gail.

Gail stopped and looked at Chloe, and for a moment Chloe thought her expression softened.

'You want me to share?'

Even though Gail's voice and expression was flat, Chloe thought she really was going to open up, and then Gail's mouth twisted in a sneer.

'Price, what alternate reality are you inhabiting. In what universe would I willing share with anyone, let alone a Disney Princess.'

'This one, Gail. The one where I'm your friend and don't want you to mess up with Holly again,' Chloe said undeterred by Gail rebuff.

'That's not what's happening here, Price. Holly and I are just having a disagreement. So don't turn this into a drama and don't try to rescue me. You and Dov argue sometimes, or is that unheard of in the Von Trapp kingdom,' Gail said sarcastically.

She yanked open the car door and settled into the driver's seat, cranking over the engine before Chloe managed to get into the passenger side.

'And before you ask, I'm okay to drive.'

'Probably better if you do, Gail. You'd don't want to damage your other hand.'

Gail slowly turned her head to look at Chloe, her eyes big. Then she burst out laughing.

'Oh my god, Chloe. I can't believe you just made a snarky comment. Watch it. I think your crown may have slipped.'

'Ha! Well it's going to slip a lot more if you don't tell me what's going on. I have actually never heard you and Holly argue. And I don't want to once again have to mail back a whole lot of crap you buy on an on-line shopping spree.'

'Wow. Another jibe. Alright, alright. And I don't want to be responsible for making you tumble off your throne or is it a pedestal,' Gail grumbled, but Chloe could tell her mood had shifted. 'Holly and Lisa had a falling out and Holly's not talking to Lisa and Lisa asked me to intervene and when I tried to Holly wasn't happy,' Gail explained.

'And was the falling out over you?' Chloe asked.

'Kinda, but I was only trying to be a supportive girlfriend but now I've just made Holly mad.'

'Trust me Gail, she's actually mad at Lisa, not you. One for the way Lisa puts you and your relationship with Holly down and two for going behind her back to get you on side.'

'I'm not on Lisa's side. I just don't want Holly to throw away a friendship because she's being stubborn. I thought I was doing the right thing,' Gail said gloomily.

'Well, maybe you need to let Holly figure it out for herself.'

'What if she never lets herself figure it out? She won't listen to reason, which is not like Holly. She is just being so stubborn.'

'Remind you of someone?' Chloe smiled.

'Me, of course,' Gail answered empathically and as if this was a no-brainer, 'which is why I'm so worried.'

'Gail, maybe Holly's not ready to discuss this yet. When she is you can encourage her to speak to Lisa, but if she decides not to you'll need to respect her decision.'

'I guess,' Gail blew out her breath, 'hey, this is the apartment isn't it?'

She nodded in the direction of a yellow brick building. It was one of those nondescript low rises built in the 60s. Eight stories high, with spaces for cars on the ground floor interspersed with concrete pillars. Its boxlike shape and plain façade, broken at regular intervals by pokey windows and narrow balconies barely big enough for two small chairs, gave it a drab and utilitarian feel. It was run-down, and Gail guessed it was probably home to low-income earners and students.

The small glassed lobby in the center of the building wasn't locked and it led to an elevator that wasn't working. No building superintendent here.

Gail sighed.

'What floor is Zaheer's apartment?'

'Fifth. 5B' Chloe said.

Gail sighed again.

'And I thought this day couldn't get any worse.'

'Should we wait for McNally and Diaz or start walking up?' Chloe asked.

'Walk. Let them know the elevators are out and we've started the trek.'

As she trudged up the stairs, Gail replayed the conversation with Holly in her head. Gail couldn't believe Lisa was again coming between the two of them. Holly had said she wasn't annoyed with her, but it had felt like the more Gail had urged Holly to speak to Lisa, the more cool and distant Holly had become. It reminded Gail of the day in the lab with the thumb. Holly of course had every right to be mad that day, but she was hurt too. The distance, the standoffishness was a defense, a shield to prevent Gail from getting back in, under Holly's skin and into her heart. Problem was, Holly said later, Gail was already lodged there in her heart. Stuck. As if Cupid had indeed shot his arrow with Gail's name on it.

As she reached the fifth floor landing, Gail decided she should ring Holly. See if she was okay. Actually, see if they were okay. Maybe she should apologize. Chloe would know if that was the right thing to do, although that meant having another conversation with her perky colleague about the whole thing.

It was then that Gail saw Zaheer. A compact kind of guy, he looked a lot like his half-sister. A cap was pulled down over his head so she couldn't tell if he was shedding hair. He'd just closed the door to his apartment and glanced at Gail edgily. Which made sense if you were trying to get away with murder. It was bound to make you jumpy.

'Zaheer Amir?' Gail said, purposely not showing her badge or immediately identifying herself as police so as not to spook him. It made no difference. His eyes widened with alarm. It might have been comical had he not in the next moment barged past Gail, shoving her against the wall, then collecting Chloe who was nearly at the top of the stairs and sending her sprawling to the center landing.

Great another bruise, Gail thought as she pulled herself upright and went back down the stairs to Chloe, hoping she hadn't been injured in the fall.

'Are you alright?' she asked, offering her hand to pull Chloe up.

Chloe nodded. 'Just a bit winded.'

'Okay, I'm going after him. Diaz and McNally should be on their way up the stairs by now so we should be able to corner him.'

'Wait, Gail,' Chloe wheezed but Gail had already almost reached the floor below. Chloe couldn't let Gail pursue Zaheer on her own. She was Gail's partner and that meant she needed to have Gail's back. Chloe took a deep breath and, clutching her side where it hurt, ran down after Gail.

There was no sign of Andy or Chris on the stairs. Surely they would be outside by now, Gail reasoned. For a second time that day, as she tumbled through the lobby door, Gail found herself calling out 'stop police.' There were a surprising number of pedestrians on the sidewalk, most of whom shrank back in alarm. Gail was vaguely aware that one guy had pulled out his phone and started recording.

Zaheer was just ahead of her. Suddenly he turned, making Gail come to an abrupt stop. She saw the glint of silver like a flash in front of her face. It was so fast she didn't see where he'd pulled the knife from. Taking a step backwards, Gail stumbled slightly. Then almost as if it were happening to someone else, she watched as the knife sliced through the sleeve of her shirt. The sting and then the goddam awful pain brought her out of her head and back to the street. It threw her off balance. She tried to right herself as she took another step backwards, conscious Zaheer was advancing towards her again, waving the knife about in taunting circles.

There was no time to reach for her gun. In any case she couldn't use it with so many pedestrians around. Gail felt her heel hit an uneven part of the sidewalk, where one side of a slab of concrete had lifted. Then she was toppling backwards. It was like someone had knocked her feet from under her. As she fell, she noticed the stain of blood spreading on her grey shirt, caught the 'o' of surprise on the face of an old woman out walking her dog, sensed Zaheer come closer, and heard Chloe calling out but from too far away. Much too far away. Landing with a thud on the ground, Gail saw the intent in Zaheer's eyes as he bent over her. Wished with all her heart she hadn't been so off hand with Holly back at the morgue. Wished she'd told Holly she loved her, just like she normally did.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I hope you're not mad with me for making Holly and Gail argue. All couples do. And this is not like that night at the Penny - both Holly and Gail's instinct is to talk to the other and apologize. But then a knife wielding killer had to get in the way. Next chapter, Lisa and the Superintendent meet (I haven't written this yet but I am looking forward to it).


	29. Twenty-Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters.
> 
> Thanks for the comments, kudos, follows and bookmarks and for reading. I always say it, but it is so great to get your feedback. Hope you enjoy. Let me know of course!

‘Drop the knife and get on the ground.’

Gail couldn’t see Andy but she could hear her and she was close by. It struck her how authoritative, how in control Andy sounded and it made her remember Rookie McNally who’d been so klutzy and uncertain. In truth they all were. Even Gail who had spent her lifetime preparing to be a cop. It struck her too how she was thinking about that - graduating form the Academy and being let loose on the streets – when a man with madness in his eyes was bent over her, his arm raised as if preparing to plunge the knife he held into her chest. 

It was that weird sensation again where time was elongated and her vision tunneled on Zaheer. Holly had told her about it. The fight or flight response. Although this time Gail didn’t feel like she had the strength for either. She could feel her shirtsleeve sticking to her where the blood was steadily oozing out and guessed the blood loss was the reason she was feeling so faint. 

The pain, that had been hot and piercing as Zaheer sliced the knife through her skin, was now mainly cold. Then it was like someone had placed dry ice on her arm so it felt freezing and fiery and numb and oversensitive all at once and altogether her arm seemed overlarge. In between, directly where the knife had sliced her skin, Gail had the sensation that her arm had been split in two, that a crevice had opened up, which was strange and out of place here on her body. She wondered then if it was the pain, not adrenalin or the loss of blood that was making her mind wander.

‘Drop the knife and get on the ground,’ Andy said again, louder, closer.

Gail saw Zaheer’s eyes flick over to the side and then the adrenalin finally kicked in. Ignoring the pain, she pushed off the sidewalk with all her might, rolling to one side and then over again before staggering upright. As she went she heard shouts and sensed commotion and prayed to whoever that Zaheer had been disarmed and wasn’t coming after her. 

Gail heard some stifled gasps, and realized they were coming from her. Then a dog barking manically on the edge of the small crowd that had formed to watch the drama unfold, and floating above this a rap song coming through the open window of an apartment, a horn sounding and finally a rushing in her ears.

As she stood, Gail saw that Chris had Zaheer on the ground, his knee in his back, and was roughly pulling Zaheer’s hands together to cuff them. Andy had her gun in one hand, which she kept trained on Zaheer, and was reaching for her radio with the other hand and asking for an ambulance and back up. It was then that Gail’s knees buckled.

‘Whoa,’ said a voice behind Gail, catching her before she fell. With an enormous sense of gratitude, Gail realized it was Chloe.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

'Dr Stewart,' Sally, Holly's assistant was at the door to the autopsy suite with Officer Robinson by her side.

Holly looked up from where she and the interns were reviewing the evidence taken from Rahmi's apartment.

'Yes,’ Holly said, wondering why Sally looked anxious and what Anna Robinson wanted. Maybe she had more evidence for them.

Rodney appeared behind the two women.

'I'll take over here,' he said kindly, moving past Sally and Robinson.

That's when Holly knew.

'Is she okay?' Holly breathed.

'Sergeant Shaw sent me to take you to the hospital,' Robinson said.

Holly pushed down the panic, conscious Robinson hadn’t actually answered her question. 

Natasha looked from Holly to Robinson and back again to Holly. She saw the color drain from Holly’s face, noticed her white knuckled grip on the edge of the table. Natasha quirked a questioning eyebrow at Wilson, and he responded with a half shrug.

Holly rose out of her chair as if on autopilot. She didn’t say a word. Not even to excuse herself or explain what was happening. Didn’t even look at the interns. As Holly reached the door, Sally handed over her phone.

'You left it upstairs,' she explained, 'It's been pinging like crazy. I was on my way down with it when Officer Robinson showed up.'

Holly nodded her thanks and followed Robinson out.

‘What was that about?’ Natasha asked Rodney once the three women had left.

‘A personal matter,’ Rodney said.

‘Personal?’

When did interns get so nosey, Rodney thought. He was sure he was never like this when he started out in forensics. He just kept his head down and did as instructed. He would never have dreamed of prying into his supervisor’s private life.

‘Dr Stewart’s partner was injured on duty.’

‘Oh,’ Natasha said knowingly, ‘Dr Stewart is dating a cop.’

‘‘Yes,’ Rodney said tersely.

So,’ Natasha started to say.

‘So we should get back to work. Dr LaPaige can you tell me where you’re up to with the evidence review,’ Rodney said, deciding he needed to steer the intern away from questions about Gail and Holly. 

He just hoped Natasha was better at analyzing evidence than reading people. For someone so interested in Holly and Gail how could she have possibly missed that they were together. Even he had figured that out and he wasn’t exactly clued in when it came to social situations. In fact, Rodney suspected his ineptitude on these occasions might be a sign that he was somewhere on the edge of the autism spectrum. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘Can we not tell Holly?’ Gail said.

‘Uh Gail, you have a gash in your arm which is being held together by more stitches than I can count. Somehow I think she’s going to notice,’ Chloe said, smiling.

‘Humph,’ Gail pouted.

‘Anyway it’s all over social media and the TV. Dov just sent me a link.’ Chloe held up her phone.

‘Really, let me see.'

'Is that a good idea?'

'Yeah, yeah Chloe, don't be such a killjoy.'

'Killjoy?'

'Party pooper,' Gail clarified.

Reluctantly Chloe held out her phone to Gail. 

'I'm here and there,' Gail said with wonder, 'there and here. You're right Price. That is weird.'

'What are we looking at,' Lisa said, as she pushed back the curtain, which had been pulled around Gail’s bed to provide some privacy from the other patients in the Emergency Ward. Lisa took it as a good sign Gail was not only sitting up but was so animated. That was one nasty wound she came in with.

'I'm on Chloe's phone.'

‘I can see that. Did you lose your phone?’

‘No, no I mean I’m in her phone. Look,’ Gail held up the phone for Lisa to see for herself.

'Oh that. It's all over the news. Let's hope Holly doesn't see it,' Lisa said.

'I'm here but there,' Gail said, scrunching up her face in concentration as she peered at the screen, 'here and there.'

'Did she take a knock to the head as well?' Lisa asked.

'No,' Chloe shook her head, 'it's the drugs. Gail has a low tolerance.'

'Man that's a big knife,' Gail said, still glued to the screen, the wonder back in her voice so she sounded almost childlike, 'I just can't figure out where he was hiding that.'

'It is big,' Lisa said, moving closer to Gail so she could see the screen, 'no wonder you needed so many stitches.'

'Bang,' Gail said loudly, as she watched herself fall over on the screen, 'that's gonna be another bruise. Holly will probably notice that.'

Then as Gail saw Zaheer lean over her in the video, knife raised, she shivered.

'I don't want to watch anymore, Chloe,' she said in a small voice, pushing the phone back in Chloe's direction, 'You need to hide the phone from Holly.'

'Why Gail?' Chloe asked perplexed.

'So she doesn't see the video,' Gail explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

'Um Gail, I think she'll be able to see it on her phone too.'

'It's on her phone! How did that happen?’ Gail asked in alarm, ‘oh wait, wait. It’s on everyone’s phone isn’t it?’

Chloe nodded.

‘Am I dreaming this?’

Chloe shook her head. Gail considered that for a moment.

‘If I was dreaming this and you were in my dream you probably wouldn’t tell me anyway,’ Gail said and then turned to Lisa as a thought struck her all of a sudden. ‘Lisa, you know Holly well. Should I apologize or ask her to marry me?’

‘I thought it was me who needed to apologize to Holly.’

‘Is this some sort of perverse version of fuck, marry, kill?’ Gail asked.

‘No, and I wouldn’t play that with you Peck because I know exactly what you would want to do with me and it wouldn’t be fuck or marry.’

‘Pfft,’ Gail said, ‘it would depend if McNally was playing. That would make the decision a little tougher.’

‘Who’s McNally?’ Lisa asked.

‘Doesn’t matter,’ Gail shook her head, ‘If I asked Holly to marry me would she say yes?’

‘In a heartbeat,’ Lisa said.

Chloe, who had been observing the exchange with some amusement, looked sharply at Lisa to see if she was messing with Gail, but the doctor appeared to be completely sincere.

‘Lisa, you better start treating Holly right if you want to be one of her bridesmaids,’ Gail said. Oblivious to Lisa’s guilty expression, she turned to Chloe, ‘you can be my best man, Chloe and then I’ll make Frankie my bridesmaid so she’ll be forced to wear a dress.’ Gail was clearly tickled by that thought.

‘You’re going the whole traditional route?’ Chloe asked.

‘Price you’ve met my mother. My life wouldn’t be worth living if I didn’t have a big wedding. Although, I bet Holly would agree to elope,’ Gail smiled impishly, clearly pleased with this final idea.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Holly was out of the squad car and though the doors of the Emergency Department before Robinson had completely stopped the car. The officer hadn’t been able to tell her much. Only that Gail had been chasing a suspect when he turned on her and slashed her arm with a knife. She was had been taken to Toronto General - Lisa’s hospital Holly thought wryly- and Robinson didn’t know how serious Gail’s injury was. 

As she came through the doors, Holly was hit by a blast of hot air and a huge queue leading up to the reception desk. It was a long counter with glass on the top separating the reception staff from the people waiting on the rows of plastic chairs lined up opposite. There were three reception staff behind the counter. Even so the queue was progressing slowly. Holly’s heart sank. She couldn’t very well push past the people lined up in front of her, especially as a number of them looked like they needed medical attention.

As she shuffled along the line with growing impatience, Holly noticed a large television set mounted on the wall and facing the waiting area. With a jolt she realized she recognized the blonde haired woman up on the screen. The footage was clearly recorded on a phone. It was shaky and a little blurry in parts. 

Holly watched as Gail chased a man. The sound was turned down on the TV but it was obvious Gail was calling out ‘Stop. Police.’ Holly saw the man turn and Gail stop. Then the man pulled out a knife. God it’s huge, Holly thought a chill running through her. She wanted to turn away but couldn’t. It was only when she saw Gail roll out of the way and Chris cuff the man that Holly finally did look away, expelling a rush of air she didn’t know she’d been holding. By this time she had reached the top of the queue and she became aware the receptionist was asking how he could help. 

‘That’s one brave police officer. She deserves a medal,’ he said, noticing what was distracting Holly.

‘That’s my girlfriend,’ Holly said, her voice small and flat with shock.

‘Man, she is badass,’ the receptionist said.

He was the third person to say that today. Holly wanted to tell him she didn’t want a badass girlfriend. She didn’t want one who took risks, who bodily threw herself at fleeing suspects, heedless of her own safety. She just wanted Gail to come home to her everyday and preferably in one piece. Holly also knew that all these things – Gail’s dedication to her job, her compassion and determination to do everything within her power to protect and serve – all these things were part of the woman she loved.

‘Are you Doctor Stewart?’ one of the other receptionists, a woman with a perky smile, asked.

‘Yes,’ Holly nodded, fishing out her ID. 

‘Detective Price asked us to let you go through,’ the receptionist said, indicating a double door to the left of the counter, ‘Detective Peck is in the third bed along.’

Holly nodded and thanked the receptionist.

‘You should be proud of her. We need more police officers like her,’ the receptionist said, pressing a button to release the doors and give Holly access to the ward.

 

As she approached Gail’s bed, Holly could hear laughter. The curtain was partially pulled across so she couldn’t see who was with Gail, but she guessed it was Chloe.

‘Holly,’ Gail said brightly, as Holly appeared, and then with a huge smile breaking across her face again said, ‘Holly.’

Holly wanted to go to Gail. Wanted to gather her up and hold her close. Wanted to say how relieved she was Gail was safe, and whisper over and over that she loved her. But she couldn’t because Lisa was standing right next to Gail and short of bodily pushing her out of the way there was no room for Holly. So instead of doing all those things, Holly said, her voice cold and her anger barely in check, ‘what are you doing here Lisa?’

‘She stitched me up literally and metaphorically,’ Gail laughed happily.

‘And I did a fine job if I don’t say so myself. If there is a scar, it will be very faint,’ Lisa said, ‘it was a deep gash. Just missed a major artery. Even so, Gail lost a bit of blood. If the cut had been any deeper, I would have insisted she be admitted. Seems like she’s allergic to hospitals though.’

‘Who gave you permission to treat Gail?’ Holly asked tightly.

‘I,’ Lisa faltered, thrown by the hostile expression on Holly’s face.

‘Chloe,’ Gail whined to her colleague in a stage whisper, ‘they’re killing my mellow.’

‘Why are you even in the ER, Lisa?' Holly asked.

‘She came down to flirt with that doctor over there,’ Gail said, nodding in the direction of the nurses’ station directly opposite them where a woman in a white coat was laughing with a nurse. ‘You didn’t think I noticed that did you Lisa, but I’ll let you in on a secret,’ Gail tapped the side of her nose, ‘I’m a detective.’

‘What did you give her?’ Holly turned on Lisa, not bothering to hold in her anger anymore.

‘It was the paramedics,’ Chloe spoke up, ‘they gave Gail fentanyl before I had a chance to stop them.’ 

‘In any case Holly, she was in a lot of pain,’ Lisa said, looking a little apologetic that she had to remind Holly that Gail would have been hurting, ‘they needed to give her something.’

‘I’ve been watching her Lisa,’ Gail said, continuing as if there had been no discussion about her pain meds, ‘you haven’t got a hope. She and that nurse have totally got a thing going on. Did you see that look,’ Gail said excitedly, ‘oh and there’s the covert brush of the fingers and one last lingering look before – boom - they walk off in opposite directions, moving briskly to give the impression they are totally focused on work. Do you think they’ll have sex in the on call room later?’

Holly had to laugh then. ‘I think you’ve been watching too many episodes of Grey’s Anatomy.’

‘I don’t watch that show Holly. Only that one time I had flu.’

‘Uh huh,’ Holly said indulgently.

‘Oh,’ Lisa said stepping aside as she suddenly realized she was blocking Holly’s access to Gail. 

Before Holly could move though, Elaine Peck appeared at the end of Gail’s bed. It was like Zaheer and the knife, Gail thought, she totally hadn’t seen that coming.

‘Quite a party,’ Elaine said by way of greeting.

‘I think my mellow just died. It’s six feet under. Even the paddles won’t help,’ Gail said to Chloe, again in a stage whisper.

‘Ugh, what pain meds did you give my daughter, Doctor…?’ Elaine broke off as she searched for a name badge on Lisa’s coat.

‘Gordon, Lisa Gordon,’ Lisa supplied.

‘World famous boob doctor,’ Gail said. She could swear she heard Holly stifle a giggle.

‘Stewart Gordon’s daughter? The cardiothoracic surgeon,’ Elaine said.

‘You’ve met him?’ Lisa asked.

‘We’re on the Cops for Kids board,’ said Elaine naming one of her pet charities, ‘but we knew each other rather well in our younger days.’

‘Ew, mother you dated Lisa’s father,’ Gail said.

‘Hard as it might be for you to imagine, Gail,’ Elaine sighed, ‘there were other men before your father.’ She turned back to Lisa, ‘so you’re a friend of Gail’s? She hasn’t mentioned you but then again she tells me very little about her life.’

‘I’m,’ Lisa was somewhat at a loss, ‘well yes. I happened to be down here in the ER when Gail was brought in. I didn’t want some junior resident botching up her arm so I stepped in.’

‘Just don’t let her touch my boobs, mother. They’re fine as they are. Holly wouldn’t like it either.’

Elaine gave a long-suffering sigh. Holly bit her lip as she caught Chloe suppressing her own smile. This situation was getting weirder and weirder by the minute. Holly was beginning to feel like she was the one on drugs.

‘Actually, why are you here mother? Aren’t you supposed to be visiting Steve?’

‘I asked Sergeant Shaw to keep me abreast of the investigation,’ Elaine stopped and gave Gail a pointed stare when she started sniggering.

‘Abreast. It’s apropos for this occasion,’ Gail explained, not the least bit perturbed by Elaine’s clear disapproval. When Elaine didn’t reply, Gail spelt it out to her, ‘you know boob doctor and a breast.’

‘I understood the allusion, Gail,’ Elaine said stiffly, ‘ juvenile as it is. I returned as soon as I heard what happened to you. I’m here to take you back home, to your house, if Dr Gordon is happy to release you into my care.’

Now that didn’t make sense, Gail thought. There was no way her mother could have made it back from Calgary in that time. It was nearly four hours by plane, and even in her addled state, Gail knew much less time had passed since Zaheer attacked her. She decided to file that away and ask her mother later when she was more clearheaded.

After that Elaine set about organizing them. She instructed Chloe to return to the station to question Zaheer Amir, saying she’d asked Detective Nash to sit in on the interrogation.

‘Make sure Traci lets you lead the interview,’ Gail said, sounding surprisingly lucid, ‘you know the case Chloe.’

Then Elaine suggested Lisa must have patients waiting for her and ‘we’ve inconvenienced you for far too long,’ she said with one of her saccharine smiles. 

Finally she told Holly that she was needed at Zaheer’s apartment and Officer Robinson would drive her over there.

‘We need forensics to go through the place thoroughly. Probably best if it’s you given your involvement in the case. I’ll get Gail settled at her house and you can come over when you’re finished.’

When Holly hesitated, Gail said, ‘you should go nerd. Just think how ecstatic I’ll be to see you after a couple of hours stuck with Superintendent Mom.’ 

Gail hadn’t bothered to lower her voice and once again Elaine gave a long-suffering sigh. The pain meds seemed to have completely removed Gail’s filter, and that was saying something given she didn’t always pay much heed to it at the best of times.

The speed with which Elaine dispatched them made Holly appreciate two things. One, Elaine Peck was a very difficult woman to say no to, particularly when in full superintendent mode. And two, she had somehow picked up on the tension between Holly and Lisa and decided it best to break up the party so to speak. 

Much as Holly would rather stay with Gail, it did make sense for her to go over to Zaheer’s apartment. Given she was the forensic investigator on this case, she knew exactly what to look out for. Besides it was Gail’s first time as lead detective and Holly wanted to do everything possible to make sure she got a sound conviction.

As Holly turned to go, Gail called out, ‘Uh, Holly have you forgotten something?’

That’s when Holly went to Gail’s side and Gail beamed up at her goofily and Holly leant in and kissed her, just briefly. Gail, however, had other ideas. She reached up with her good arm and placed her hand tenderly on the side of Holly’s face and then tugged her down for a much longer kiss.

‘Hallelujah, it’s a miracle. I think my mellow was just resurrected,’ Gail said happily as they broke apart. 

This time Chloe laughed.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Natasha and Wilson were waiting outside Zaheer’s apartment when Holly arrived.

‘I’m so sorry to hear about Detective Peck,’ Wilson said sincerely making Holly realize he and no doubt Natasha had finally figured out the connection between she and Gail.

‘Me too. Will she be alright?’ Natasha asked, sounding less high-spirited than usual. In fact sounding quite subdued.

‘Yeah, thanks,’ Holly nodded, ‘she needed a fair few stitches but luckily the knife didn’t go too deep.’

Wilson winced at that and Natasha looked pained as well.

‘That’s the nature of the job,’ Holly said gently, ‘every time a police officer steps out on the street it’s a risk they face.’

Then Holly suggested they get to work and find enough evidence to guarantee the police nailed Zaheer. ‘Let’s not let this bastard get away with this,’ Holly said, and if her tone was somewhat vehement the interns made no comment. 

Holly found Rahmi’s phone in a shoebox beneath Zaheer’s bed. There was pentobarbital in the bathroom cabinet and under the kitchen sink a roll of plastic bags that matched the one placed over Rahmi’s head. On the grimy little coffee table covered in cup stains and cigarette burns, there was a handwritten ten-page rant clearly penned by Zaheer about the immorality of women and how they must pay for their wanton behavior. It was like he was a self-appointed vigilante – if women couldn’t be modest and docile, if they couldn’t conduct themselves with propriety and if they refused to be deferential to men, then Zaheer said it was his duty to make them.

Holly had sent Wilson and Natasha back to the van and was just finishing up when she overheard Duncan and Officer Robinson talking. Well, it was more a case of Gerald – Duncan, Holly mentally corrected herself – prattling on and Anna Robinson listening. They were posted in the hallway just outside the door to the apartment.

‘Man, you should have heard Detective Peck when the medics gave her the pain meds,’ Duncan said, ‘it was like she was instantly tripping.’

‘Yeah,’ Anna said non-committedly.

‘Yeah, she must be really sensitive to that stuff,’ Duncan said.

‘Yeah.’

‘She kept asking Detective Price if she should apologize to Hol – the Doc,’ Duncan corrected himself, ‘or ask her to marry her. It was kinda cute. Then she started singing that song, you know the one – going to the chapel and we’re gonna get married.’

Duncan sang the lyrics and Holly was quite impressed by his voice and how well he carried the tune.

‘Chapel of Love,’ Anna said.

‘Yeah, that’s the one.’

‘Duncan, can I give you a word of advice.’

‘Sure,’ Duncan said, sounding anything but.

‘If you value your life, or your job or any man bits you may have, I would not repeat that conversation to anyone, especially Detective Peck.’

‘Detective Peck and I, we’re cool,’ Duncan started to say but then gulped as Holly appeared in the doorway.

‘Officer Robinson, Officer Moore,’ Holly said, ‘I’m done now.’

‘Okay Doctor Stewart,’ Anna said, ‘we’ll lock up.’

As Holly made her way down the corridor, she could hear Duncan cursing.

‘Oh fuck, fuck, fuck. I think my life is over,’ he said.

When she reached the top of the stairs, Holly couldn't help it. She turned and said, ‘Oh, Officer Moore.’

‘Yes ma’am,’ Duncan snapped to attention.

‘You know being a forensic pathologist I know a lot of ways to make a body disappear.’ 

As she sauntered down the stairs, Holly could swear Anna Robinson was laughing. Then after a moment she heard Duncan say very distinctly, ‘I’m a dead man.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gail woke in a sweat and reached out for Holly, forgetting she wasn’t there. She could smell Holly on the sheets though. That combination of vanilla and cinnamon Gail associated with Holly. The bed also smelt like sex, which was unsurprising given how much of it they had had last night and then again this morning, which left them no time to change the sheets. This morning seemed light years ago given the events of the day. 

She smiled as she remembered waking Holly with a trail of kisses down her neck. Then when Holly stirred and began making appreciative little noises, Gail slid her hand up to cup one of Holly’s breasts, thinking she would never tire of the perfect feel of the them, or the way at the flick of her finger tips Holly’s nipple would harden. After that Gail ran her hand down Holly’s stomach to her center, teasing Holly’s clit with light touches, then dipping further down to find a wetness that caused a flip of excitement low in her own belly. 

Holly had pulled Gail around and on top of her, thrusting a thigh between her legs. The combination of this pressure, the thrusts and the friction, and the way Holly felt as Gail pushed her fingers inside her, and then the sounds Holly made as she began to come, had been enough to tip Gail into her own orgasm. It had startled Gail how quickly, how easily and yet how intensely she had come. Holly laughed and maneuvered Gail onto her back, saying ‘let’s try and give you something a little more sustained’. Which indeed Holly had, and so it might have continued had Chloe not banged on the bedroom door to say they really needed to get to work.

It was much more pleasant thinking about this than the pain in her arm, which was heavy and thudding and impossible to ignore. Infinitely better than thinking about the nightmare that had woken her. Gail knew the pain meds were to blame. 

It seemed she now had a new bogeyman to add to her line-up. In the dream Zaheer had been flicking the knife ever closer until he left little slices in her cheeks so that rivulets of blood began to flow down her chin. 

They were in the cabin in the woods where Aaron had taken his victims. Aaron was there too and he took the knife from Zaheer and, pushing Gail back on the table, pulled up her shirt and started to carve letters into her stomach. Even though she was not restrained, Gail felt paralyzed, unable to sit or stand or make a break for it. 

Perick showed up then, making tsking sounds and shaking his head. He roughly pushed Aaron away. Producing a huge needle and thread, Perick sewed the cuts in quick rough stitches so Gail began to resemble a patchwork doll. ‘Now you’re ready,’ Perick said, bending over her, leering and so close, too close. Gail felt like she was drowning, like life was being sucked away and she couldn’t resist because she floppy like a ragdoll.

It was then the door to the cabin swung open and Holly was standing there, the light streaming in from behind framing her like a halo. Gail found she could move then. Standing, she approached Holly, who smiled and took her hand. As they walked out of the cabin, Holly shut the door. Gail looked down at herself and saw that the patchwork stitches had disappeared and she was whole again. After that Gail woke. She wondered what her therapist would make of the dream. 

Checking the beside clock, Gail saw it was a little after 7pm. She’d been out for several hours. It was then that she heard voices downstairs. One definitely belonged to her mother, but the other sounded a lot like Lisa. A little more high pitched and louder than usual, but it was Lisa for sure. 

Gail got out of bed, swaying as she stood. It made her realize how weak she was. Maybe food would help. She hadn’t actually eaten since a hurried breakfast this morning. Looking down Gail saw she was in a t-shirt. She didn’t remember changing. Perhaps Elaine had helped. She wondered if her mother had noticed the marks Holly had left on her body, although the various bruises she had accumulated during the day had probably disguised them. Pulling on sweat pants, Gail made her way downstairs. She stopped as she reached the landing. It was definitely Lisa. Sounding mildly hysterical now and possibly quite drunk.

‘I’ve pushed them both away,’ Lisa was wailing.

‘Lisa, I don’t understand,’ Elaine said, her voice even but Gail could detect the underlying irritation.

‘I thought Gail was just a straight girl experimenting and she was going to break Holly’s heart so I told Holly Gail wasn’t good enough for her. And after Holly came back to Toronto I resented how much Gail monopolized her time so whenever I see Holly I can’t help myself. I tell her she’s out of Gail’s league and try and set her up with other women. I’m just a bitch.’

‘Let me get this straight,’ Elaine said, her tone now cool, ‘you believe my daughter is out of Holly’s league.’

‘Believed,’ Lisa insisted.

‘Dr Gordon, Gail is smart and beautiful and, despite her pretense otherwise, extraordinarily big hearted and unwaveringly loyal. Any woman would be lucky to have her.’

God, Gail thought, am I still tripping? She assumed the drugs would have worn off by now.

‘I just didn’t want it to be Holly,’ Lisa admitted miserably.

‘Are you in love with Holly,’ Elaine asked sharply.

‘No, no,’ Lisa protested, ‘that’s the good thing. Our friendship has never been complicated by that. But Holly and Rachel are my best friends. They are the oldest friends I have. I’ve known them since college. In fact, if I’m honest, they are the only real friends I have.’

‘So if you know Holly as well as you claim, you must see how in love she is with Gail and that Gail makes her exceedingly happy. And if you’re concerned it’s one sided, I can assure you my daughter is deeply in love with Holly and I have never seen her so happy. If you can’t accept that I don’t think there can be a place for you in Holly and Gail’s lives.’

‘I’ve fucked up. I’ve fucked up. I’ve fucked up.’

‘Dr Gordon, I can see you are a little drunk but self-pity never achieved anything.’

‘Well, what am I to do?’ Lisa whined.

‘Make amends, apologize.’

‘I’m trying but Holly won’t listen.’

‘Well, perhaps perseverance is the key. Maybe you need to prove by your actions how sincere you are. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe my daughter is perfect, but she and Holly seem to delight in one another’s eccentricities. I hate the notion that we all have just one soul mate, but these two are clearly made for each other. I think it’s about time you accepted that.’

Gail crept away then. Back upstairs. She decided she needed a shower more than food. She was suddenly conscious of how nasty she smelt. Nothing like an encounter with a knife-wielding madman to work up a sweat. Anyway she didn’t think she could face her mother or Lisa quite yet. That whole conversation was surreal. Maybe she was tripping.

Holly found Gail in the shower. 

‘Hey, you probably shouldn’t be showering on your own. You don’t want to get your stiches wet,’ Holly said.

‘You offering to get in and help me,’ Gail said, arching her eyebrows but stopping when she realized how much that made her head hurt. Post painkillers. Post trauma. It made her head feel dull and achy.

‘I’m not sure that would be the best way to keep your stitches dry,’ Holly gave a lop-sided smile. ‘Anyway, I’m guessing you’re feeling a bit weak?’ 

Gail nodded, careful this time to just incline her head slightly. Holly grabbed a towel and, shutting off the water, wrapped the towel around Gail, careful not to knock her arm. 

‘I wasn’t going to have a shower. I was hungry but then Lisa and Superintendent Mom are downstairs having a deep and meaningful. Actually I think they are or did I dream that?’

‘No, they are still there,’ Holly made a face, ‘Elaine has decided to make a hearty soup and she’s pressganged Lisa into chopping vegetables.’

‘Really, I thought Lisa didn’t cook. Actually I’m not even sure my mother can cook.’

‘Elaine did point out Lisa is a surgeon so she expected the vegetables to be diced with precision.’

Gail laughed. ‘No pressure then.’

'I think Lisa's scared of your mother,' Holly said, helping Gail into a fresh t-shirt.

'That's a first for Lisa,’ Gail snorted as she pulled on sweat pants and sat down on the bed. 

Holly joined her, kicking off her boots and stretching out lengthways on her side. Gail moved across to snuggle into Holly. As Holly placed her arms around her, Gail thought this place, here in Holly's arms, this is happiness and safety and calm and a kind of peace. Here she was cherished. Here was love and understanding and acceptance. This was a place she had nearly given up hope of having admission to.

'Actually, in a strange way and for a lot of very complicated reasons, mainly to do with her own insecurities, I think Lisa has always been intimidated by you,' Holly said after a moment.

Gail screwed up her face. 'You think? I don’t see that. But do you want me to throw her out? Show her the door?' she said, using Holly's words from earlier that day.

'No. I don't want to fight about Lisa now or in fact ever.'

'I'm sorry I pushed you on that,' Gail said, 'it's your decision if you want to speak to Lisa. I shouldn't have interfered.'

'No you were right, Gail. I do tend to run rather than resolve things. I hate confrontation. It never really mattered before. I never cared enough about anyone to change that until you. And you're right. San Francisco was totally me running away from us, but,' Holly put her head on one side and gave that half smile Gail loved so much, 'but then I realized I wanted to resolve things with you, that you were worth fighting for.'

Gail tipped her head up and kissed Holly.

'Does that mean I'm better than those girlfriends who were lovely?'

'What do you think, Gail?' Holly laughed.

'Well, I am pretty awesome,'

'Very awesome,' Holly gave Gail a quick kiss, 'in fact, at the risk of swelling your head, extremely awesome.'

Gail smiled widely. 

'Until you, I never once went back to an ex and tried again.'

'But then I am completely irresistible,' Gail's grin was impish.

'You have no idea,' Holly agreed, kissing Gail again.

'So you know how you hate confrontation. Is that why you've never had it out with Lisa.'

'Yeah partly. She wasn't so bad when I first met her and then, as she got meaner and meaner, I'd just brush it off.'

Gail nodded.

'So if I'm to resolve anything with her, I need to be honest with her about how her behavior affects me and how it makes it hard to remain her friend. And if she's not willing to change,’ Holly stopped and shrugged, ‘I will wash my hands of her.'

'Okay,' Gail said, taking Holly's hand in her own and squeezing it lightly.

She wished Holly had had the courage to make this speech two years ago that night at the Penny. But maybe they weren't ready to be together then. Maybe they needed that time to figure out what they really wanted. Gail knew it was pointless to regret what might have been, especially when she was here now with Holly. 

And they might not be here if they hadn’t had to negotiate all that had gone before. The misunderstandings and misgivings, Gail’s insecurities and self-sabotage, and now it seemed Holly’s stubbornness along with her own. As well as the two years apart where the longing, the aching for the other was impossible to suppress. 

'Okay,' Holly pursed her lips.

'You know Holly, I have a feeling after her heart to heart with my mother Lisa may be quite receptive to hearing you out.' 

'Were you eavesdropping?' Holly feigned shock.

'Kinda. I didn't mean to. I was on my way downstairs when I heard them. I thought perhaps I was tripping.'

Holly laughed. 'Speaking of that...'

'Oh god, I said some really stupid things didn't I.'

Holly nodded.

'Did I tell Elaine not to let Lisa near my breasts.'

'Uh huh.'

'And am I imagining it or did my mother once date Lisa's father.'

'Uh huh. And apparently there was some talk of proposing to me.'

Gail went bright red.

'You heard about that?'

'Don't worry Peck, I won't hold you to it,’ Holly leaned in again to give Gail another quick kiss.

'Is that something you'd like to do. Get married?'

'You mean “we're going to the chapel and we're gonna get married”,' Holly sang rather tunelessly.

'You really have an awful voice, Holly,' Gail scowled, but Holly could tell it was in jest, 'I just figured if we were married and something happened to me then you'd know.'

'I'd know?'

'That you're the love of my life.'

'Gail, honey I don't need a ring to make this real,' Holly gestured between the two of them. 'I know you love me and I’m fairly sure you know I feel the same way about you,' Holly paused and Gail nodded, 'besides my parents were very anti-establishment. They didn't believe in marriage and I kinda took that onboard.'

'Yeah,’ Gail said, not surprised to hear that Holly’s parents held such views. 

Holly’s parents, Kurt and Becca, had never married. In fact, Stewart was Becca’s family name. They were basically hippies or had been. Too young for Woodstock, Becca and Kurt had spent two years in the early seventies driving across Canada and the US in a Kombi van painted with rainbows and peace symbols. Perhaps unsurprisingly they weren’t that thrilled to discover their daughter was dating a cop, despite Holly’s reassurances that Gail ‘was one of the good ones.’ 

‘Isn’t that an oxymoron,’ her father had teased, but Holly wasn’t entirely convinced he meant it as a joke. 

Growing up, Holly remembered her parents explaining the police were there to prop up the system. Kurt and Becca had attended their share of demonstrations and sit-ins. Not that they had ever been arrested, although a number their friends had been hauled in for acts of civil disobedience. Kurt was secretly proud when Holly spent a couple of hours in the cells following that vivisection protest. 

Her parents had mellowed over the years and were now highly respected academics at Columbia in New York. Kurt taught political science and Becca anthropology. Early on, Holly’s parents decided Holly’s love of all things scientific came from her mother’s side of the family. Becca’s father was a retired science teacher and Holly spent hours with her grandfather in school holidays happily conducting science experiments that had started simple but became increasingly complicated the older she got. 

If she was honest, Gail was in no particular hurry to meet Holly’s parents. Particularly as, judging from the things Holly had said, Gail suspected Becca and Kurt would not be that open to having a cop for a daughter-in-law. In any case, she didn’t exactly have a good track record when it came to getting married. It felt like she and Holly were in a good place and maybe she shouldn’t jeopardize that, disturb that equilibrium, especially as it had only been six months since they got back together. But then, as Frankie’s brother had said, sometimes you just know. 

‘What are you thinking,’ Holly asked, tilting her head to one side, ‘don’t want to get hitched to someone born out of wedlock.’

‘Out of wedlock,’ Gail laughed at the quaint expression. ‘I was thinking getting hitched would be a good excuse for a party and might get that intern off my case,’ she said deflecting, not quite ready to admit what had actually been going through her mind. 

'There is that,' Holly laughed, 'although Natasha has finally figured out we're dating. Anyway, you hate parties.'

'There is that.'

'Gail,’ Holly said, turning serious. She shifted down so she was directly facing Gail. ‘I don't want you to propose to me right after you've had another, well there’s no other way to describe it, near death experience.’ Holly smiled at Gail softly then. ‘But I'm not ruling out marriage altogether. Are you okay with that?'

'Very okay,' Gail smiled, 'oh, on the subject of near death experiences, I wouldn't watch TV or look at social media for a while if I were you.'

'Too late, I've already seen it, Gail.'

After that Gail fell asleep. Holly held her close, and felt indescribably grateful that she could. Today could have turned out very differently. She was well aware of that. Holly sighed. She wanted a lifetime with Gail but with a job as dangerous as hers that might not happen. So she would cherish every day, even the ones like today.

Did she want to get married, Holly wondered. She didn’t feel like she needed a ceremony or a piece of paper to prove how much Gail meant to her, which come to think of it was one of her parents’ justifications for not tying the knot. It would certainly surprise Kurt and Becca if she told them she was getting married, and that was saying something because not a lot shocked them. 

Holly had never contemplated marriage. Until Gail, she had given up on finding someone who so totally got her, who she could love so unconditionally and feel equally loved in return. In truth, Holly still experienced a thrill at the thought that Gail was her girlfriend. Imagine then, if Gail was her wife.

Holly was pulled from these thoughts by a soft knock on the bedroom door. Chloe was standing there with a tray on which were placed two bowls of streaming soup. Gail stirred.

‘Oh, I didn’t mean to wake you,’ Chloe said apologetically, ‘but the Superintendent thought you both might be hungry.

Holly got off the bed and took the tray from Chloe. Gail struggled to sit upright, wincing a little at the pain in her arm. Chloe must have noticed her expression.

‘You okay, Gail?’ she asked with concern.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Gail said dismissively.

‘Are you sure,’ Holly asked, ‘I’ve got some painkillers you can take. They’re not as strong as fentanyl but they’ll take the edge off without the side effects.’

‘Maybe later,’ Gail said, ‘So did you interview Zaheer?’

‘Yep,’ Chloe nodded, ‘confessed to everything. He denied it at first, but then when we confronted him with the evidence Holly found at his apartment, he folded. Claimed it was an honor killing. He gave her the pentobarbital and then when she passed out put the plastic bag on her head. From what Traci and I could glean, Zaheer planned to suffocate her, but then was overcome by such a rage, he strangled her.’

‘Shit,’ Gail said.

‘Yeah, it seems he became very religious after his father died. He said he had no choice but to kill her because she had brought shame on the family.’

‘Honor killings have nothing to do with religion,’ Gail said angrily, ‘it’s all about control of women.’

‘Yep,’ Chloe nodded sadly, ‘let’s just hope Zaheer doesn’t get away with this on the grounds of diminished responsibility.’

‘Is that a possibility?’ Holly asked.

‘He came across as fairly deranged in the interview. Ranting and incoherent a lot of the time. A defense attorney is bound to use that.’

‘But it was clearly premeditated,’ Holly pointed out, ‘the plastic bag and the pentobarbital came from his apartment.’

‘Yeah, which is why we’ve charged him with murder. And Robinson found a clear image of him wheeling the pink suitcase out of the subway.’

‘Wait, I thought Robinson didn’t get anything from the CCTV footage.’

‘Not on the original footage from the subway down the street from the bus terminal, but she decided to take a look at surveillance footage from a subway two blocks away. He turned up there.’

‘Wow, impressive,’ Gail said, ‘we’ve got him now.’

‘Yep,’ Chloe agreed.

Have you told Frankie?’

Chloe nodded. ‘Actually she is downstairs with Alannah. So are Andy and Chris and Dov. Oh and Lisa, although she seems a little drunk. They all came to see how you are doing. Your mother is making them eat soup.’

‘Oh god. Is she behaving?’ Gail groaned.

‘She is being quite charming,’ Chloe smiled, ‘oh and Leo was at the station waiting for Traci. He asked me to give you this.’ 

Chloe pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket. 

It was a get-well card. Leo had drawn Gail with a shock of yellow hair and her arm in a sling but a big grin on her face. Gail felt herself tear up. She hadn’t seen much of Leo and Traci since Steve went to prison. It was just too awkward and painful for Traci, even if she tried to pretend otherwise. Until this moment, Gail hadn’t realized quite how much she’d missed them both.

‘Traci said maybe she and Leo could come visit when you feel up to,’ Chloe said.

Gail smiled widely then, making her face light up in that way that made her breathtakingly, achingly beautiful. Holly couldn’t help thinking Gail’s smile was exactly like her grin in Leo’s drawing.

Frankie came up a bit later when Holly took the empty soup bowls downstairs.

‘Thanks,’ she said, lurking a little uneasily in the doorway, ‘for everything you did for Tom, for us.’

‘It was my job,’ Gail replied.

‘But you did it well and that’s what counts.’

‘I’m sorry we had to go so hard on you and Tom.’

‘Like you said. It was your job,’ Frankie shrugged, ‘I wanted nothing less from you.’

‘How is Tom?’

Frankie shrugged and sighed. ‘You know, heartbroken. Destroyed. How do you come back from something like that?’

‘I don’t know,’ Gail said honestly.

‘Typical of my mother,’ Frankie gave a bitter half laugh, ‘even from the grave she’s fucking up her children’s lives. If Tom hadn’t been in Kitchener, he could have stopped this happening to Rahmi.’

‘You can’t think that way, Frankie. From what Chloe told me, Zaheer was hell bent on doing this. If it hadn’t happened then, he would have tried another time. You can’t blame your mother and you can’t let Tom blame himself either. Zaheer is the only one responsible for Rahmi’s death. You know that.’

Frankie nodded and then looked down at her feet, seemingly at a loss for what to say.

‘So you and Alannah,’ Gail said.

‘It’s nothing,’ Frankie shrugged again.

‘Someone a lot wiser than I am once told me everyone deserves to be happy, including me.’

Frankie looked up.

‘Yeah?’

‘Yeah, so I took her advice and called Holly and asked her out on our first pseudo date.’

‘Pseudo date?’

‘I was still pretending to be straight,’ Gail chuckled, ‘I almost convinced myself that spending half the evening staring at either Holly’s lips or her ass was quite normal for a heterosexual woman.’

Frankie laughed, a real laugh this time.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Five days later Gail was standing on the sidewalk outside the Penny. She and Chloe had organized drinks to celebrate the successful closure of the case, at least on their end. There was still the court case to come of course. 

Over breakfast that morning, Holly had informed Gail that she was bringing Rodney and the interns. She decided it would be good for Natasha and Wilson to get to know some of the officers from 15 in a social setting.

'Does that mean I have to be on my best behavior,' Gail had pouted.

'Well, they know we're together, so I don't think you should be too concerned about public displays of affection,' Holly teased.

'That’s not what I’m asking. Anyway isn't it you who can't keep her hands to herself at the Penny.'

'That was that one time, Gail,' Holly protested, 'and who would blame me for being a little under the weather when as far I knew you were missing.'

'Under the weather is that what we're calling it now? Somehow arresting someone for being under the weather and disorderly just doesn't have the same ring to it.'

Holly made a face.

'What I actually meant is do I have to be careful about what I say In front of the interns. In case I offend their delicate sensibilities.'

'Just be yourself, Gail.'

'Holly, I'm not sure that is always a very good idea,' Gail said, deciding Holly was probably the only person who would give her such advice and mean it. 

Except maybe Oliver. He seemed to appreciate the unfiltered Gail. Although come to think of it, these days she was pretty much herself with Chloe and Frankie, and those idiot boys Dov and Chris, and even McNally. Gail wondered when that had happened. It hadn’t seemed to put any of them off either. They were still hanging around.

'It's always a good idea,' Holly laughed, breaking into Gail’s thoughts. She tilted her head to one side, 'because that's who I'm in love with.'

Gail couldn't stop herself. She leaned across and kissed Holly. Soft, closed mouthed at first, but then she placed a hand on Holly's cheek and quite swiftly the kiss became more passionate, in fact a little too fervent when it was a work day for Holly, and Gail heard a soft moan come from Holly.

'Oh jeez sorry,' Dov said as he walked into the kitchen, his face turning red as backed out of the room.

'Ow,' Chloe, who was following right behind Dov, cried out as he stepped on her toes, 'what are you doing Dov?'

'Yeah, what are you doing?' Gail said, having pulled back from Holly as soon as she heard Dov.

'I, um, nothing. Chloe, I just walked in and they were um you know,' Dov floundered and then turned to Gail and Holly, 'I um didn't want to intrude, you know, on a private moment.' Dov reddened even more.

'Does seeing two women kiss make you uncomfortable Dov?' Gail drawled.

'What? No. No. I'm completely comfortable. Relaxed. Totally relaxed. Nothing I like more than seeing two women kiss. Oh shit. That came out wrong.'

'Well, as we know Dov you came out wrong,' Gail deadpanned.

'Play nice Gail. You should give Dov a break,' Holly gave an amused chuckle as she stood up from the table. 'Now, I really need to get to the morgue.'

'Yeah, Dov and I have to go into work too,’ Chloe said.

Holly leaned down to kiss Gail goodbye but found Gail regarding her with a furrowed brow.

'I always play nice,' she said.

'Always,' Holly raised an eyebrow, 'I don't know Gail, I wouldn't say always. Sometimes you tease and tease and tease until a girl can’t take it any longer.’

'But you like it.' Gail was grinning now. 

The two women gazed at each other. There was amusement and a hint of challenge there and a charge so strong that Dov could have sworn he could see it, like a ring of light, a corona shimmering around them. He decided if there were such a thing as a flirtation gauge then the needle would be pushing red for maximum. 

Holly's mouth was quirked into a sure smile and Gail was holding her gaze, her own smile a mix of playfulness and adoration. It was as if Holly and Gail were the only ones in the room and Dov did become a little embarrassed by the complete intimacy of the moment and the sense that he was indeed intruding on that.

'Oh god,' he gulped, 'I'm going to wait in the car, Chloe.'

'Will you be alright by yourself today, Gail?' Chloe asked as she gathered up her bag.

Gail was under orders to take the week off to recover and, while people had been dropping by during the day, Chloe could tell Gail was starting to go stir crazy. She would bombard Chloe with questions about the case as soon as she came in the door at night and then ask Holly to go through the forensics in exhaustive detail. The sooner they got her back to 15 the better.

'What are you my mother now Chloe?’ Gail snarked, ‘But yeah, Superintendent Mom will be over in the afternoon to supervise so that will be super fun.'

Chloe laughed sympathetically. 'See you at the Penny then.'

Gail nodded. Then Holly leant down to kiss her goodbye and Gail flashed her one of those smiles – wide mouthed and sincere – that made Holly’s heart melt.

Elaine had offered to drive Gail to the Penny, given her arm was still healing. 

‘Has Holly spoken to Lisa?’ Elaine asked abruptly as they set off from the house.

‘Not yet. She hasn’t had a chance.’

Elaine nodded and then paused, as if she were considering something for a moment.

‘Are all lesbians like Lisa?’ she finally asked.

Gail turned to look at her mother, screwing up her face in disbelief.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Exactly what I asked?’ Elaine bristled a little.

‘Are all lesbians like Lisa. Bitchy, rude, elitist, self-centered drama queens?’

‘That’s not quite what I meant.’

‘Okay, mom. It’s not like Lisa is the first lesbian you’ve met. I know I can be bitchy but am I like Lisa?’

Elaine shook her head.

‘Is Frankie?’

Elaine shook her head again.

‘Alannah?’

Again Elaine shook her head.

‘Officer Robinson?’

‘Oh, Officer Robinson, I didn’t know about her,’ Elaine said. 

‘Yep, Officer Robinson. And what about Officer Luck? Actually scrap that. She’s not a good example.’

‘No, best not to include Officer Luck,’ Elaine agreed, ‘although I have another. Dr LaPaige. Seems you’ve made quite an impression on her.’

‘Ugh. How did you find out about that,’ Gail groaned, wondering if there was anything her mother didn’t know.

‘It’s plain from the way she acts when ever your name is mentioned,’ Elaine said, ‘it’s like you’re catnip to lesbians, Gail.’

Gail was pleased she wasn’t drinking anything at that moment, because she would have sprayed it over the windscreen. Catnip to lesbians. Where had her mother got that idea from? Where did she even hear these expressions? Elaine said it almost proudly. Like it was a credit to her to have a daughter other women deemed hot. 

‘Ugh whatever,’ Gail said, ‘but mother, unlike Lisa, most lesbians are functional people.’

‘Yes, yes of course,’ Elaine said, ‘I wasn’t implying that. Lisa is just very unusual.’

‘You can say that.’

‘I do think beneath all that ridiculous posturing she cares very much about Holly, though.’

Oh, that’s what this was about, Gail realized. She couldn’t imagine that her mother really thought all lesbians were dysfunctional. No that question about Lisa was her mother’s way of finding out if Holly and Lisa had made peace. Not that Elaine would ask her directly like any other normal person. No she had to go about it in a roundabout and, in this case, offensive way. Holly hadn’t decided what to do about Lisa yet but Gail wasn’t going to tell Elaine that. It wasn’t her information to give.

They were silent then for a bit. Gail looked out the window at the big oaks with their leaves browning as autumn took hold. Soon they would have to hunker down for another long Toronto winter. 

Which reminded Gail, she wanted to get the fireplace in her living room working again. The idea of a fire was nice and not just because she had this particular fantasy involving Holly and lounging in front of a roaring fire. The thought of Holly naked brought a slight blush to her cheeks and Gail decided, given Elaine was seated just across from her in the car, it best to divert her attention elsewhere

‘So why did you really come back from Calgary?’ she asked.

‘What do you mean?’

‘There wasn’t enough time between me getting hurt and you turning up at the hospital for you to have made the trip from Calgary.’

Elaine sighed and pursed her lips. ‘I should have guessed you’d work that out. I decided to come back when I heard you arrested Frankie’s brother. I was worried you might do something to,’ Elaine stopped, conscious she needed to choose her words carefully, ‘to compromise yourself.’

‘Compromise myself,’ Gail scrunched up her face, ‘you thought because Frankie was my friend I’d screw up the investigation.’

‘I was worried – incorrectly as it turned out - Frankie would put pressure on you or you might be less rigorous in your investigation because of some misguided loyalty.’

‘So you were worried I’d screw up the investigation.’

‘No, believe me Gail, no. Once you have children you’ll understand the lengths parents will take to protect their children. I simply wanted to make sure that nothing would impede your investigation.’ 

Gail was silent. She wondered if Elaine was talking not just about her own actions but Bill’s when he pushed Gail to lie on the stand for Steve. She had never felt like her parents had gone to any particular trouble to look out for her.

‘I know you think we were tough on you,’ Elaine said as if reading Gail’s mind, ‘but you are stronger than Steve. More resolute. You were always going to be better at this than Steve. He needed support. You are very capable Gail and it frustrated me that until recently you never saw that.’

Gail sighed. Nothing in the way Elaine and Bill raised her had ever made her feel very capable. The very opposite in fact. Their exPecktations and ceaseless disappointment had worked to discourage rather than motivate Gail. It was strange that her mother, who read suspects so well had got her so completely wrong.

The sense she was a failure had become a constant like a bad angel sitting on her shoulder whispering in her ear that she would never amount to anything. It had bred a bitterness and resentment and insecurities that had made her defensive and mean. There was nothing to be gained by talking to Elaine about it now though. She realized too that this was probably the closest she’d ever get to an apology from her mother. 

By this time, they had drawn up outside the Penny.

‘Do you want to come in, have a drink? Seeing as you’re besties with everyone now,’ Gail said with an edge of sarcasm. 

It seemed Elaine and her soup had been quite a hit with Gail’s friends the night they had gathered at her house after the knife incident.

‘Thank you, but your father and I have an engagement,’ Elaine said, ‘much as I do like your friends.’

Now inside, Gail scanned the room. Great, the only other person here was Natasha and she was waving Gail over to her table. Gail sighed. Best to get this over with. Holly said the intern had finally acknowledged they were together but Gail had decided it was time she really spelt it out.

‘Can I get you a drink,’ Natasha gushed as Gail sat down.

Gail shook her head. ‘Probably best if I avoid alcohol with this,’ she said, indicating her arm.

‘True. How is your arm.’

‘Better.’

‘Oh that’s good. Listen Detective Peck –‘

‘Gail.’

‘Gail, I should apologize. I thought you and Holly weren’t together anymore. That’s the impression Lisa gave that time you came over to our table at that bar. I just figured you were friends now. Otherwise, you know I wouldn’t have been so, um, I guess, so forward.’

Gail nodded. Well that was a relief. Now she didn’t have to say anything.

‘I feel a bit foolish,’ Natasha was saying.

‘Well, Lisa is to blame for making a lot of people feel foolish,’ Gail quipped.

Natasha laughed uncertainly. 

‘I hope Dr Stewart won’t hold it against me.’

Gail pondered for a moment whether she should really mess with Natasha. Say Holly was the jealous type and that Natasha had better watch her step, but then she caught sight of Anna Robinson coming into the bar and she smiled as she was struck by a brilliant idea. Well, at least she considered it brilliant. 

Robinson’s disastrous night with Luck was common knowledge. Gail wasn’t sure how it had gotten out, but apparently things had been very one-sided. After coming, Luck had fallen instantly asleep and begun snoring loudly, and Anna had gone home more frustrated than when her evening had begun.

‘Hey Robinson,’ Gail called out, smiling as Anna made her way over to the table, ‘have you and Natasha officially met.’

‘Not officially,’ Natasha said, her interest clearly piqued.

Shortly after the gang from 15 arrived, and then Holly and Rodney. Gail was immediately out of her chair, cutting off Holly before she could sit down.

‘You’re looking very pleased with yourself,’ Holly said.

‘Mmm, I think I may have achieved some good,’ Gail said and then taking one of Holly’s hands, gave her a lingering kiss. When it finished, Gail leaned in again, tugging on Holly’s bottom lip and she might have deepened the kiss had Holly not pulled back a little.

‘I think we’re being watched,’ she said.

‘Watched?’

‘By everyone,’ Holly said.

‘Oh, I could care less,’ Gail said, ‘I have a proposal for you.’

‘A proposal? I know I said you could bring it up again, but here, now in the Penny?’ 

‘Oh god, not that kind of a proposal,’ Gail said, ‘more like a proposition.’

‘Okay, but the same goes. Here, now in the Penny?’

‘Jeez, get your mind out of the gutter Stewart,’ Gail said, ‘not that kind of proposition. I mean I know it’s only been six months since we got back together but I feel really sure about this, about us. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever felt so certain of anything. And you practically live at my place anyway. So, um will you move in with me? Well, at the moment with me and Chloe. She will be like our eerily perfect teenage daughter. Never does anything wrong and has a dweeby goody two shoes boyfriend and we’ll be itching for her to break out and be bad and –‘

Gail broke off as Holly kissed her.

‘You just had to stop talking,’ Holly smirked.

‘Yes,’ Gail agreed.

‘Yes,’ Holly nodded.

‘Yes,’ Gail breathed, sounding a little unsure, ‘yes I should stop talking or’

‘Yes, I will move in with you.’

Gail smiled then, big and dazzling, her whole face lit up like a child’s at Christmas. This time she really didn’t care who was watching. She pulled Holly in and kissed her. After a moment she may have completely forgotten they were standing in the Penny surrounded by work colleagues had Dov and Chris not started to woof whistle. Deciding she really couldn't care less, Gail flipped them off behind Holly’s back and kept on kissing her girlfriend.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should Gail and Holly get married? I’m not sure they really need to but I’m keen to hear your thoughts. In Australia our stupid government hasn’t yet agreed to gay marriage, although I’m not sure if I would get married if they did. I have the feeling that neither Gail or Holly would be too fussed about marriage but I’m happy to be corrected on that. I have another, probably shorter, case planned for this fic so that’s where we’ll take up the story next.


	30. Thirty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always for the comments, subscriptions, bookmarks and kudos. Hope you enjoy this chapter. There is quite a bit about the crime, but it is necessary to set the scene. Apologies for mistakes – I did my best to proof this but now it’s late and I just want to post it! Let me know what you think and happy reading.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘Geez, Peck I thought you’d at least get something of a tan on holidays,’ Frankie teased.

It was Gail’s first day back at work after a week in Antigua. The trip was a present from Holly for Gail’s thirtieth birthday. Well Holly and Elaine. Turned out Elaine had invited Holly to lunch to quiz her about a suitable gift for Gail. When she heard about the Antigua plan, Elaine decided to upgrade their accommodation to a cabin on the beach. 

Gail wasn’t sure if her mother had simply felt magnanimous or if it was another attempt to reel Gail back into the Peck fold. Holly believed Elaine’s intentions were good, but then Holly tended to see the best in everyone. If she hadn’t, they probably never have become friends or got together that first time, Gail thought. Still she didn’t regret accepting Elaine’s generosity and it was a nice change from a gun, which was Elaine’s usual go to gift.

‘Did you even leave your hotel room,’ Dov leered.

‘Or did you buy a burkini like I suggested,’ Frankie laughed.

‘Well, the thing is I happen to have an awesome girlfriend,’ Gail began.

‘Yeah we know that, Gail,’ Dov interrupted, ‘and we’re still trying to figure out how that happened.’

‘Ugh, keep up Epstein,’ Gail said dismissively, ‘my girlfriend is so awesome she booked us into a resort by the sea with lounges and massive umbrellas and waiters who bring you food and drink so I could totally avoid blemishing any of this.’ Gail gestured to her body.

‘It was 5 star,’ said Chloe, who had walked into the detective pen while Gail was speaking, ‘I’ve seen the photos. It looked amazing. Not only was their room right on the beach, they had their own private plunge pool.’

Gail did her best to school her features as images of just what she and Holly had done in that plunge pool popped into her head. It was certainly not something she should be thinking about at work.

‘Eww,’ Frankie said, ‘I don’t think I wanna know about the private pool.’

‘Just cause you were freezing your ass back here in Toronto,’ Gail countered, ‘or was Dr Alannah keeping you warm.’

Frankie narrowed her eyes at Chloe.

‘What? I didn’t tell her anything Frankie,’ Chloe protested.

Gail laughed, happy to deflect the attention away from she and Holly, and rather pleased with herself for managing to confirm something was indeed going on between Frankie and the doctor. Before she could continue her teasing, Oliver and Traci appeared in the pen.

‘Ah welcome back, welcome back my not so petulant Peck,’ Oliver said in his genial way. Since Holly’s return to Toronto, Gail was not nearly so querulous and so Oliver had modified his nickname for her. Although, while he liked this mellower Gail, he was glad the snark was still there. ‘Later I wish to see the photographs.’

‘Just not the ones of the private pool,’ Frankie sniggered.

‘I take it these miscreants are somewhat envious of your and the good doctor’s sojourn abroad,’ Oliver said, ‘however we will deal with their petty jealousies later, perhaps over a drink at the Penny this evening. We have a case.’

‘A case?’ Gail asked.

‘It would appear so. Superintendent Peck has summonsed us to my office immediately.’

First day back and Superintendent Mom was already at the station. Really it was like the woman did have a bat sense when it came to her, Gail thought.

‘Us? All of us?’ Chloe asked.

‘Indeed, every single one of you’ Oliver said, ‘and Traci as well.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Elaine was seated behind Oliver’s desk. Gail wondered if that annoyed him. The way the Superintendent just assumed ownership. Then again she always did that wherever she was. Would it help Ollie to know that? He probably had figured it out, Gail decided.

‘Oh good,’ Elaine said, barely looking up from the file in front of her, ‘you’re all here. Welcome back Detective Peck. I thought you might at least have returned with something of a tan.’ 

Elaine said it like Gail had somehow let her down for failing to get a tan. Gail could hear Dov start to snicker and then abruptly stop when Elaine looked at him sharply. 

Extra chairs had been placed in the office for the meeting, making the room more cramped than it was already. Elaine motioned them to take a seat.

‘Niall O’Leary’s ten year old daughter has been missing since 3.15 pm yesterday,’ she said without preamble.

Gail sucked in a breath. Niall O’Leary. It was a member of his gang who attacked Steve in prison and it was an informant from his gang who told Frankie if Steve stayed in Toronto he was a dead man. 

It wasn’t clear whether that directive had come from O’Leary. Frankie thought not and Traci, who as head of Guns and Gangs knew more about the way the gangs worked, had been inclined to agree. A few mavericks, she said, although it didn’t pay to take any chances. So Elaine bundled Steve off to Calgary and a bright new future as a partner in a security firm. 

Last time Gail had spoken to Steve he sounded bored and flat, resigned to the fact his life had narrowed to this. Fitting alarm systems in family homes, with the occasional office security contract thrown in to pique his interest.

Gail looked across at Traci and Frankie to gauge their reaction to O’Leary’s name, but their faces remained impassive.

‘I don’t think I need to stress how sensitive this is,’ Elaine was saying, ‘the girl has been missing for seventeen hours and they have only just reported it.’

‘Just now?’ Gail said, astonished. 

They all knew the first twenty-fours hours were crucial in a missing persons case. In fact, the chances of a successful recovery diminished every hour that passed from the time the person was last sighted.

‘This is why it’s sensitive. O’Leary has it in his head Caitlin has been kidnapped by a rival gang. He believes Lee Chou is responsible. Apparently Chou’s boys have been muscling in on O’Leary’s territory.’

Elaine looked across at Traci, who nodded in confirmation.

‘O’Leary sent out his own lieutenants to search for Caitlin. Shake down some of Chou’s gang. As you can imagine it got ugly. I believe Doctor Stewart has one of Chou’s men waiting for her on a slab in the morgue.’

Gail grimaced. What a welcome back present.

‘He was dumped on 27’s patch so Detective Swarek caught that case. We’ll need to liaise with him.’ O’Leary’s wife – Maree – finally persuaded O’Leary to contact us this morning,’ Elaine explained.

‘Why us and not missing persons?’ Dov asked, ‘don’t they have the expertise to handle cases like this.’

‘Yes, but given the sensitivities surrounding this case, I’m not going to bring them in just yet. If we don’t find this girl soon, it could be all and all out gang warfare. Because these gangs are based in 15th’s precinct, we - Detective Nash in particular – have the advantage of knowing them well. I think we have a better chance of containing any flare ups while searching for Caitlin.’

‘So, is there anything to suggest Chou took Caitlin?’ Gail asked.

‘Nothing,’ Elaine said, ‘but at this stage nothing points to an alternative scenario either.’

‘We very much need to keep an open mind,’ Oliver added.

‘Yes,’ Elaine nodded in agreement, ‘so, Detective Nash and Peck I want you to start by interviewing O’Leary and his wife. You’ll be the main liaison officers working with the family. Detective Anderson and Price, you’ve got Lee Chou. Epstein, we need to circulate a photograph of Caitlin as well as her details to all airports, bus and train stations and the Border Services Agency.’

Elaine held up a photograph of Caitlin. She was grinning widely, her smile framed by a set of dimples. Her green eyes had a mischievous sparkle and jet-black hair framed an impish face. Her skin was fair, almost as pale as Gail’s. She looked happy, as if she had not a care in the world, which Gail reflected was how it should be when you were ten. Though she wondered if Caitlin knew what her father did for a living. 

‘Sergeant Shaw has copies of these photograph for each of you and details about Caitlin’s height and weight etc. I have also emailed you electronic versions. Caitlin was last seen leaving school on her bicycle yesterday afternoon. Normally she rides home with her best friend Macy but Macy had a dentist appointment and left school early.’

‘So I should start by looking at any CCTV footage on her route home. Do we know what her usual route is?’ Dov asked.

‘No,’ Elaine shook her head, ‘but that is something Detectives Nash and Peck need to ask the parents. Detective Epstein, I also want you to compile a list of registered sex offenders in the area. We’ll interview them as well.’

‘Did she have a phone we can trace?’ Gail asked.

‘Not with her,’ Elaine shook her head, ‘it was confiscated by her class teacher and Caitlin forgot to collect it before she went home. You and Nash should speak to the teacher after you interview the parents. Julia Lombardo.’

‘What about media?’ Frankie asked.

Normally if a child went missing their photograph and an appeal for information would be released to the media. If there was reason to believe a child had been abducted or was in grave danger, the police could also issue an amber alert.

‘We’ll hold off on that just for now and on an amber alert until we know more,’ Elaine said, ‘it’s a tough call but once the media find out it’s O’Leary’s kid who is missing they will be all over this. I don’t want to do anything to impede the investigation or escalate tension between the O’Leary and Chou gangs.’

Frankie and the other four detectives nodded.

‘Sergeant Shaw and I will be coordinating the investigation so you will report directly to us.’

‘Superintendent, we’ll need forensics to go through Caitlin’s room,’ Gail said.

‘I have already informed Dr Stewart. Forensics are on standby to come to the house once you get permission from the parents.’ With that Elaine dismissed the five of them.

As Gail followed the others out of the office, Oliver motioned her aside.

‘Looks like will have to take a rain check on that drink at the Penny,’ he said, ‘I still want to see those holiday snaps.’ 

As Gail started to nod, she noticed her mother observing she and Oliver with interest.

‘Yes, I’d like to see those photos too,’ Elaine said, realizing she’d been caught out staring. The words came out stiffly and Gail could tell her mother was trying not to make them sound like an order.

‘Ah yeah. Okay,’ Gail said somewhat uncertainly, and then gesturing awkwardly to the door, ‘I um guess I better go now.’ With that she made her escape.  
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

‘Hey boss,’ Rodney said as he walked into the autopsy suite, ‘good holiday? It looks like you got quite the tan.’

‘It was great,’ Holly smiled, ‘I could have done with at least another week but it’s back to rain and, can you believe it, 2 degrees this morning. And of course a dead body.’

‘Who’ve we got?’

‘Mickey Chen. 23 years old. A member of the Chou gang. Looks like he was tortured and then strangled to death.’

Holly gestured to the body laid out on the autopsy table. There were deep groves marks around Chen’s neck, which indicated he had been strangled. Rodney noticed ligature marks around the man’s wrist and ankles as well. He had deep slashes on his arms and all of his fingers were severed at the knuckle. 

‘Gang killing?’

‘Most likely. Do the severed fingers remind you of anything.’

‘Isn’t that O’Leary’s signature?’

It wasn’t the first time Holly and Rodney had seen a body like this. The police had never been able to pin anything directly on O’Leary, but it was well known his gang’s favorite method of interrogation was to sever the victim’s fingers. 

‘Yep,’ Holly nodded gravely, ‘It could be related to the disappearance of Niall O’Leary’s ten year old daughter, Caitlin. Superintendent Peck believes O’Leary took matters into his own hands before calling the police in.’

‘Hell,’ Rodney said, immediately realizing the implications of this.

‘If the parents agree, I’ll go over to the O’Leary house shortly to go through Caitlin’s room. I thought I’d take the interns if you conduct the autopsy.’

‘Yeah, of course,’ Rodney said, ‘Wilson and Natasha haven’t worked a missing’s person case yet.’ 

‘That’s why I thought they should tag along.’

‘So it’s possible Chao’s responsible for Caitlin’s disappearance?’

‘Apparently that’s what O’Leary believes. If it’s true or if the police can’t prove otherwise, we might be seeing a lot more gangbangers on our table,’ Holly sighed.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Traci handed Gail the car keys knowing she preferred to drive. Neither of them said a lot to begin with. Gail and Traci had tried to remain friends after Steve went to prison but it had been strained and after awhile neither of them made much of an effort. Gail knew she was a constant reminder of Steve’s betrayal. At work they were always professional, but Gail had rarely worked with Traci since what she drily referred to as the great piri piri mystery, and the two of them hadn’t been partnered since Gail made detective.

Gail had seen a little more of Traci after the knife attack a few months back. Leo asked to visit and after that Gail had him over a few times for rowdy gaming sessions and movie marathons and even sleepovers when Traci had to work overtime. They were small steps, and mostly involved hanging out with Leo but Gail was hopeful she and Traci could be friends again.

Holly had never seen Gail with kids before. She was fun and open and somewhat overindulgent with Leo. When he stayed over it was always Holly or Chloe who imposed bedtimes. Gail would go all wide-eyed and innocent as if the thought a kid might need to go to sleep by a certain time was news to her. In many ways she was like a big kid herself, which amused and worried Holly in equal measure. She realized if they had children Gail might expect her to be the bad cop. That was something they'd need to talk about. Still Gail’s delight in having Leo around was infectious.

Then Holly realized she actually wanted to have children with Gail one day and this was new because it wasn't something she’d ever contemplated with any of her previous girlfriends. At least it would make her parents happy. Becca and Kurt never said it, but Holly sensed they were disappointed that neither she nor her brother Zach were in a rush to furnish them with grandchildren. 

It was after one of Leo’s visits, that Holly turned to Gail and said, ‘I want kids. I know I said that before but now I’m 100 percent certain that, when we’re ready, I want them with you.’ 

Gail had grinned from ear to ear. ‘Really?’ she’d asked, and when Holly nodded, said ‘it won’t be easy, with our jobs, but I think we could work it out.’ Holly had nodded again. ‘You know with us as parents they’ll be brilliant delinquents,’ Gail said. Holly had laughed indulgently and given Gail one of her lopsided smiles and then kissed her. Thinking about it now, Gail started to grin. She really did have an awesome girlfriend.

The traffic was slow and Gail found herself drumming her fingers against the steering wheel. Traci was sitting very still, staring straight ahead at the cars in front of them. The awkwardness was there again. 

Maybe she should ask about Leo. That was always a safe topic. In fact when Traci came to collect Leo last time he stayed over, she had stopped for a coffee. Which was a positive sign. And Gail knew Holly and Traci sometimes caught up for lunch too. Holly had told Gail she just needed to be patient, that Traci was coming round in her own time. Gail’s therapist had said much the same thing, so Gail decided not to push it. 

Was that why her mother had partnered her with Traci? Was she trying to help Gail mend fences? Surely not. Elaine would see anyone who ignored a Peck as someone not worth knowing. Besides, it was unlikely it would occur to her that Gail would be saddened by the loss of Traci’s friendship, let alone recognize that Gail was sad in the first place. 

‘Bet you’d prefer to be lying on a beach in Antigua right now,’ Traci finally spoke.

‘Mmm,’ Gail’s reply was distracted. 

She couldn’t understand why Elaine had partnered her with Traci. Her mother must have been aware of the uneasiness between them. Not much escaped the Superintendent’s notice. Then there was the whole connection between Steve and O’Leary. If he didn’t already know, O’Leary would probably guess she was Steve’s sister and Gail wasn’t sure how well that would go down. Chances were he also knew Steve was Traci’s ex.

‘Why’d you think Elaine sent us to speak to O’Leary given our connection to Steve?’ Gail asked abruptly.

Traci didn’t answer for a moment and then she said quietly and very carefully, ‘I don’t have a connection to Steve.’

Gail bit her lip.

‘Okay. My connection. She could have partnered you with Frankie or Chloe but instead she chose me. Is she trying to unsettle O’Leary for some reason?’

‘Not that I know of,’ Traci replied, ‘does your mother always have to have nefarious reasons, Gail? Maybe she chose you because you’re good with kids. I’m head of Guns and Gangs.’

Gail nodded. ‘Yeah, I can see why you’re the obvious choice but Elaine always has a reason.’

Traci shrugged. ‘Are you okay working with me?’

‘Of course! It’s not that,’ Gail said hastily, ‘maybe you’re right. I shouldn’t try to second guess my mother all the time.’

They lapsed into silence then until Gail pulled up in front of O’Leary’s house. It was in one of the better suburbs or at least one going through a process of gentrification. There were still pockets of disadvantage next to freshly renovated homes and the occasional new fuck you mansion like the one that belonged to O’Leary. 

It was big and imposing and modern. Clearly architecturally designed. Two stories of grey stucco with large plate glass windows, a sweeping gated drive and Gail would bet a week’s pay a swimming pool out the back. O’Leary must have knocked down a row of houses to get enough land, she decided.

‘Not a man who likes to hide his wealth,’ Gail observed. 

‘It is ostentatious,’ Traci agreed.

O’Leary had several legitimate business holdings through which it was suspected he laundered the colossal profits made from his illegal activities. He must have a good accountant, Gail thought, because so far no one had been able to catch him out. 

‘Any chance we’re looking at a kidnapping for ransom?’

‘You’d be really stupid to target a gang leader, especially one like O’Leary who has a reputation for showing his enemies no mercy.’

‘Well Traci, you know what I think about criminals.’

‘They are idiots and losers,’ Traci laughed, ‘we can’t rule it out but there are softer targets for kidnappers.’

‘Geez, that’s reassuring. Although, I guess by now the kidnappers would have contacted O’Leary with a ransom demand.’

There were two men posted at the gate who inspected Gail and Traci’s badges before waving them through. Gail and Traci were half way up the drive when O’Leary came out of the house. He stood on the wide steps that led up to a double front door and a strange kind of portico with columns, an incongruous nod to the past on such a resolutely contemporary building. O’Leary’s arms were crossed and his expression was anything but welcoming.

‘I don’t want you here,’ he shouted.

For a moment Gail thought he was referring to her, then she realized he was looking at Traci.

‘Mr O’Leary,’ Traci started but he interrupted.

‘You’re Guns and Gangs. I don’t want you using my daughter’s disappearance as an excuse to go sniffing around my business.’

‘Mr O’Leary,’ Gail said, ‘Detective Nash and I are here to find Caitlin. That is our first and only priority. To bring back your little girl. Detective Nash knows you and she knows Lee Chou. If Chou took Caitlin, doesn’t it make sense to have Detective Nash on the case.’

O’Leary turned to regard Gail.

‘Who’s she?’ he asked Traci.

‘Detective Gail Peck,’ Gail answered.

‘The weasel’s sister?’ O’Leary said, ‘you don’t look much like him.’ 

To Gail’s astonishment, O’Leary took his time checking her out, his gaze lingering where her shirt strained slightly across her breasts, then on her hips and her legs, which were encased in tight black jeans. It seemed strange that a man, who surely must be desperate with worry, would in this moment sexualize her like this. Gail suspected that for O’Leary this perusal of her was as unconscious as breathing, that it was simply a reflex to view all women as commodities. 

‘She on the take too?’ he asked Traci.

‘No. Detective Peck is straight down the line. She’s one of our best. That’s why she’s on this case.’

O’Leary considered them both for a moment. ‘Okay,’ he said finally and then jerked his head to indicate they should follow him inside.

Traci and Gail trailed him down a central corridor. If the outside of the house was ostentatious, the interior was even showier. The thought more money than taste popped into Gail’s head. 

The grey color scheme had been continued inside with the walls covered in textured grey fabric wallpaper. It was a confusion of shaded lines, the effect like that of distressed wood. The ceilings were a glossy almost silver and the carpet a deep grey shag pile. Gilt mirrors and gold light fixtures with wild geometric designs only served to add to the gaudiness. 

O’Leary bought them into the living room. Here white leather couches were adorned with grey and white striped cushions. Fussy little side tables made from gilt and glass had been placed artfully next to each of the couches. 

A woman, who Gail guessed to be Caitlin’s mother, rose from one of the couches as they entered. She had the same pale skin and jet-black hair, the same dimples as her daughter. It was hard to tell if she shared the impish smile because her mouth was down-turned, her eyes red rimmed, and in her hand she cluttered a damp tissue.

After the introductions had been made, Traci asked the couple when they had realized Caitlin was missing.

‘Do we have to go through this again,’ O’Leary sighed heavily, ‘we’ve already told the uniforms.’

‘Niall we need to do this, if it helps,’ Maree look at her husband imploringly. She was younger than him by about twenty years and Gail speculated it was a second marriage for Niall. She knew he had two adult children who both worked for him. It was unlikely Maree was their mother given she looked about the same age as Gail.

‘I’m sorry to make you go through this again. I realize how distressing it is but it does help us,’ Traci said gently, ‘so when did you realize she was missing?’

‘I started to wonder where she was just before 4pm,’ Maree said in a tremulous voice, ‘the school is close by. Normally she’s home by 3.30pm. I tried ringing her phone but it kept going to messages. Then I tried Macy’s number. I thought maybe Caitlin had gone over there to play and had forgotten to tell me.’

‘And did Macy pick up?’

‘No,’ Maree shook her head, ‘After the dentist, Paula, her mother, took her to the mall and Macy left her phone in the car. But I called Paula when Macy didn’t answer and she said she’d collected Macy from school early and they hadn’t seen Caitlin.’

‘So does Caitlin always ride her bike to school?’ Gail asked.

‘Mostly. The school is only a ten minute ride from here. That’s why we let her take her bike. Macy lives two doors down from us. The deal is she and Caitlin can ride if they go together and come directly home after school.’

‘So yesterday Macy didn’t ride?’ 

‘I didn’t know, not until I spoke to Paula. Otherwise I never would have let Caitlin go alone.’

‘She loves that bike,’ O’Leary spoke for the first time since complaining about having to go through the details of Caitlin’s disappearance again. Rather than take a seat, as had the three women, he was leaning against the doorjamb almost as if he wasn’t really part of the conversation. ‘She doesn’t care if the weather is bad, she’s always begging us to let her ride it to school.’

‘Yesterday was what. 14 degrees?’ Gail asked, having looked up the temperature for Toronto while waiting in the departure lounge at the airport in Antigua, ‘not exactly the warmest weather for bike riding.’

‘It didn’t bother her,’ O’Leary said.

‘So can you describe the bike?’ Traci asked.

‘I can do better,’ O’Leary strode over to the mantelpiece and picked up a framed photograph, ‘I took this on her birthday. That’s when she got the bike.’

He handed the photo to Gail, who was seated nearest to him. Caitlin was standing holding the bike by the handlebars and she was beaming, her delight palpable. It was a bright orange BMX. Caitlin was dressed in cut off denim shorts and a Pikachu t-shirt. Someone, Gail guessed Maree, had decorated the bike with colorful streamers and a lone balloon. 

‘So Caitlin’s not real girlie?’ Gail asked.

Maree shook her head.

‘She loves anything physical. Sports. We’ve got a trampoline out the back and a swimming pool. I take her rock climbing sometimes,’ O’Leary seemed to forget his earlier antagonism toward Gail and Traci and sounded almost proud as he spoke.

‘So any chance she may have taken off for a longer bike ride?’ 

‘No,’ O’Leary was adamant, ‘she’s a good girl. We’re very strict about coming straight home and she knows that.’

‘Could she have gone home with someone else from her class, another friend?’ Gail asked.

‘Macy and Caitlin are inseparable - best friends – they usually do everything together. Caitlin has two other close friends - Ben and Amelia. I called their parents but they hadn't seen her. In any case if she was over at a classmate’s house, wouldn't she be home by now or wouldn't they have called if something had happened to her.'

'Still, we'll need the numbers for Ben and Amelia’s parents,’ Traci said and Maree nodded.

‘What kind of kid is Caitlin?’ Gail asked

‘Happy, a dreamer,’ Maree said, ‘but sort of bold too.’

‘An adventurer,’ O’Leary supplied.

‘So an explorer?’ Gail said.

‘Yes, yes for sure,’ Maree said fondly.

‘So, would Caitlin have gone off exploring on her own?’

‘Not here in the city. She knew not to do that,’ O’Leary broke in, ‘as I said she was very good about coming straight home after school.’

‘So what did you do when you realized she wasn’t with Macy?’ Traci asked.

‘I called the school. That’s when I found out she’d left her phone behind. Her teacher, Julia um Miss Lombardo, had confiscated it because she was playing with it in class.’

‘Stupid dago bitch,’ O’Leary said under his breath, but loud enough for Gail and Traci to hear. 

‘Miss Lombardo said Caitlin left as soon as the bell went,’ Maree continued as if O’Leary hadn’t spoken, ‘and by the time she realized Caitlin hadn’t collected the phone, Caitlin was gone.’

‘Do you have the phone now?’

O’Leary slipped a lime green phone out of his pocket and handed it to Traci.

‘Password 150611,’ he said, ‘her birthday. Year, month, day.’

‘So did anyone at the school actually confirm they saw her leaving?’ Traci asked.

Maree and O’Leary looked at each other hesitantly.

‘I don’t think so,’ Maree said tentatively, ‘after I spoke to the school, I called Niall and he sent someone over to get the phone.’

Niall nodded in confirmation. ‘I sent Craig, one of my, ah, people. I don’t think he questioned anyone. Do you think something might have happened to Caitlin on the school grounds.’

‘It’s important we establish when and where Caitlin was last seen,’ Traci explained patiently, ‘we’ll need to speak to Craig too.’

O’Leary nodded.

‘So what happened after you called your husband?’ Traci asked Maree.

‘I went outside and began to look for Caitlin. I walked all the way to school and back again. Then I tried different routes.’

‘So does she normally take the same route to school?’ Gail asked.

‘Yes,’ Maree nodded, ‘before she was allowed to ride we agreed on a route. It’s a little less direct but there’s a lot less traffic and even a bike track part of the way.’

‘Okay, can you write down her exact route. The first thing we can do is check for CCTV footage.’

‘And then?’ Traci prompted, ‘what did you do next?’

‘Then Niall arrived home with some of his staff. They spent the next hour searching the streets.’

‘Did you do a thorough search of the house?’ Gail asked.

‘Yes,’ Maree said, ‘that’s the first thing we did when Niall got home. We also looked in the garage. The poolroom. The garden shed. Caitlin’s tree house.’

‘What time was it by then?’

‘Close to 6.30 pm.’

‘And you didn’t think to call the police?’ Traci asked.

‘I,’ Maree rang her hands together. Her bottom lip was trembling and she unconsciously bit it, ‘I wanted to. Niall said he would handle it.’

Gail exchanged a look with Traci. They had a feeling they knew exactly how O’Leary had handled it and the result was now lying in the morgue.

‘And how did you handle it?’ Traci said, turning to O’Leary who had returned to his position in the doorway.

‘We kept searching until it got light and then we called you.’

‘Searching? Where?’

‘Just all over the neighborhood.’

Gail could tell O’Leary was lying. Even though he made a point of staring straight at Traci, his eyes shifted to the left for the briefest of moments.

‘We’ll need a list of everyone who took part in the search,’ Traci said.

‘Of course,’ O’Leary agreed.

‘And anyone who regularly visits the house. Cleaners. Employees. Your associates,’ Gail said.

‘I can vouch for my people. They adore Caitlin. She’s that kinda of kid.’

‘In a case like this, it helps if we can quickly rule people out’ Gail explained.

‘I don’t know why you’re bothering. It’s obvious Lee Chou took her.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

Frankie and Chloe were ushered into an office at the back of the warehouse from where Lee Chou directed his business. Unlike the main part of warehouse, which was stacked full of boxes, Chou’s office was plushly furnished. A red leather Chesterfield took up most of one wall. In the center of the room was a big oak paneled desk, in front of which were two single leather chairs that matched the Chesterfield. 

Behind the desk, was a large cabinet also made from oak, which ran the length of the wall. The bottom section consisted of cupboards and above was shelving, on which Chou had displayed a series of framed photographs of a smiling woman and a number of children who Frankie guessed were his family. The desk was obsessively neat with an in and out tray, fixed line telephone and two marble dragon bookends which Chou had probably bought back from Hong Kong. Except for the large desktop computer, the office had the feel of a traditional gentleman’s club. 

‘Mr O’Leary and I are business competitors,’ Chou was explaining, his words measured, his hands steepled as if he was merely considering a trifling but nonetheless interesting puzzle rather than being questioned about the disappearance of a little girl. ‘Children are off limits.’

‘What do you mean by that?’ Frankie asked.

‘Our children are never used as leverage in our business. Never, ah how should I put it, targeted.’

‘Honor among thieves,’ Frankie said sarcastically.

‘If you like,’ Chou bowed his head graciously, apparently not offended by Frankie’s tone.

‘So you know nothing of Caitlin O’Leary’s disappearance?’

Chou shook his head.

‘Word is you’re responsible for kidnapping Caitlin.’

‘Whose word? O’Leary’s?’ Chou said, unruffled by the accusation.

When Frankie didn’t say anything, Chou nodded his head again. 

‘O’Leary is wrong and Mickey Chen is dead because of it,’ he said.

‘We don’t know who killed Mr Chen,’ Chloe started to say.

Chen laughed mirthlessly. ‘Whoever killed Mickey will pay.’

‘Mr Chou, I strongly advise against taking this matter into your own hands. Mr Chen’s death is being investigated by the police,’ Frankie said.

‘Who said anything about retribution,’ Chou smiled but his eyes remained flat, ‘I am not in the business of kidnapping. O’Leary knows that. He had no reason to come after me.’

‘Is that your family?’ Chloe indicated the photos behind Chen, who nodded.‘You have beautiful children.’

While Chou reacted to their questioning with apparent calm, Chloe had noticed something stiff in the way he held himself which suggested an underlying tension. Now at the mention of his children he visibly softened and this time his smile was genuine.

‘Where are your children now?’ Frankie asked.

‘Hong Kong. My wife has taken them to visit her sister there.’

‘And when are they due back?’

‘In a week.’

‘If we haven’t found Caitlin by then, it may be best if they stayed away a little longer,’ Frankie said.

‘Are you telling me O’Leary is going to come after my children, Detective?’ Chou said, the faintest trace of alarm in his voice, the first sign he’d shown of being unsettled.

‘No, I’m just being cautious,’ Frankie said, ‘and I suggest you are too Mr Chou. With the disappearance of Caitlin and the death of Mickey Chen, we will be keeping a close eye on you and your associates, as well as O’Leary and his people, so I recommend you tread very carefully.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

'Apart from Lee Chou, is there any one else who might have a reason to take Caitlin. Someone who holds a grudge against you or perhaps found themselves on the bad end of business deal with you,' Traci asked.

'You've got to be kidding!' O'Leary exploded, 'you know what I do for a living. Of course I have enemies. More than I can count on my hands.'

'Any you can think of who might do this?'

'No,' O'Leary shrugged angrily, 'I don't know. Chou's the obvious one.'

'And we are looking into him, but you need to tell us if there is anyone else you suspect could be behind this.'

‘Yeah, okay. Okay. There’s no one I can of think of right now’

‘What about social media? Does Caitlin have a facebook account or anything like that?’ Given O’Leary’s outburst, Gail decided it best to steer the questioning in a different direction for now.

‘No, she’s not allowed,’ Maree said, ‘We said she could go on Facebook when she was 12.’

‘Okay, but sometimes children hide these things from their parents.’

‘Not Caitlin,’ Maree said adamantly.

‘We’ll check her phone but does she have a computer or iPad?’

‘No. I let her use my iPad.’

‘Okay, with your permission we can access your metadata from your service provider, see if Caitlin has been in contact with anyone who might have arranged a meeting.’

‘Not happening, Detective,’ O’Leary sneered, ‘don’t think you’re going to use my daughter’s disappearance to come sniffing around me. If I give you access to our metadata, you’ll use it to get information on me and my business. You’re as cunning as your brother.’

‘As I said before, Mr O’Leary we are to find your daughter,’ Gail responded calmly, careful not to react to the mention of Steve. ‘We’ll check Caitlin’s phone and if we think we need to access her online activity, I’ll ask you to reconsider the request.’

‘The answer will still be the same.’

‘Niall,’ Maree implored, ‘we need to help the police find Caitlin.’

O’Leary looked at his wife for a moment and then back at Gail.

‘Okay, I’ll reconsider, but only if you believe that information is essential.’

‘One other thing. We’d like to collect DNA samples.’

‘Now you really are kidding me,’ O’Leary said.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘I don’t think he did it,’ Chloe said as she and Frankie got in the car after interviewing Chou.

‘Why?’ Frankie asked, as she put the car into reverse.

‘The way he reacted when we talked about his children. I don’t believe he would do anything to jeopardize their safety.’

‘True. Chou’s smart enough to know that if he took Caitlin, O’Leary would come after his children. Anyway, I don’t see what he has to gain by kidnapping her,’ Frankie said, ‘from what Traci’s told me, Chou is moving in on drug and illegal weapons imports. He’s associated with the Hong Kong triads and is simply undercutting O’Leary, offering a cheaper deal. By all accounts it’s working.’

‘Eliminating the competition,’ Chloe said.

‘Yep and O’Leary doesn’t like it one bit.’

‘We aren’t talking small time gangs here are we?’

‘No. O’Leary started small but now I’d say he and Chou are both making millions of dollars each year from illegal activity. Chou’s smart though and O’Leary, well he’s just a thug. His older brother Pat used to run the gang. He was the one with the brains.’

What happened to him?’

‘Disappeared. No one knows what happened to him. Rumor is O’Leary killed Pat so he could take over the gang.’

‘Nothing like brotherly love huh,’ Chloe said, ‘so do you think Chou will take revenge for Mickey Chen?’ Chloe asked.

‘God, I so hope not,’ Frankie sighed, ‘but I suspect Chou’s not the forgiving type. There are a couple of unsolved murders Traci hasn’t been able to pin on him, but the victims had all crossed Chou in some way.’

‘The Superintendent’s right then. This could start a gang war.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Maree had offered to make them coffee and Traci, seizing on the opportunity to get her alone without her husband, followed her into the kitchen. That left Gail with O’Leary. He glowered at her and then said he had to attend to some business and would be in his study. 

Gail rubbed her face. Hard to believe that this time yesterday she was still in Antigua. In fact lying in bed tangled up in Holly. They were booked on a late flight back to Toronto and Gail was determined to make the most of their final day. That mainly consisted of staying in bed until Holly had dragged her up to have breakfast on their deck overlooking the sea. Then she made her go for a swim, even though Gail needed a thick application of sunscreen for that particular activity.

Not that Holly minded or even needed another excuse to put her hands all over Gail and Gail certainly wasn’t complaining. By the time Holy had finished applying the last of the sunscreen to Gail’s back, Gail had lost any interest she had had in the beach, and all she wanted was for Holly to put her hands on all the parts of her concealed beneath her swimmers. 

She turned to face Holly and pressed an eager kiss on her lips and pulled her in close. Holly laughed and pushed Gail back lightly, and then picking up her towel and sunglasses, gave Gail a playful swipe on her ass. As she sauntered outside, Holly called over her shoulder, ‘are you coming, Peck.’

‘Well clearly not,’ Gail harrumphed, ‘because you’re making me go to the beach.’

That earned another laugh from Holly. She made up for it when they returned from the beach. The shower was spacious and it had two large square shower roses and there were no problems with waiting for the water to heat up or of running out of it for that matter. Gail found it almost impossible, well no it was impossible she had to admit, to be in the shower with Holly and not fuck her. 

This time though it was Holly who pushed Gail against the smooth tiles and who kissed her fiercely, and then lifting one of Gail’s legs around her hip, teased her fingers through her folds, paying particular attention to her clit, and then after a bit trust those fingers inside Gail. It was urgent and a little rough and had Gail gasping and then asking Holly to go deeper and faster until suddenly she found herself coming so hard Gail swore she did see stars.

Holly laughed softly just as she always did when Gail came. That magical laugh that to Gail sounded like love and which was full of affection and wonder and delight. 

‘Good thing we’re checking out in a couple of hours,’ Holly said.

‘Why?’ Gail asked confused, distracted by the pleasant hum suffusing her body as the orgasm subsided, her heart rate not yet back to normal and her legs trembling just a little.

‘You were very loud,’ Holly laughed again.

‘And who’s fault is that nerd,’ Gail sassed.

That made Holly laugh again and kiss her once more and then again and again. In that moment Gail couldn’t believe how lucky, how blessed she was that Holly loved her.

Now Gail stared out the window at the O’Leary’s backyard. The contrast between this and the view from the cabin yesterday couldn’t be starker. There was the odd browning leaf left on a branch, but apart from these stranglers the trees were bare. A cover had been placed over the pool for winter and the pool hut was closed up. Beyond that Gail saw the trampoline and Caitlin’s tree house, which had been built around a big old oak. 

Holly would be here soon. Traci had called her when the O’Leary’s gave their consent for forensics to go through Caitlin’s room. Now Gail wished she’d suggested Holly leave the interns behind. It wasn’t that she was worried about O’Leary exactly. There was just something a bit off about him like he could snap at any moment. Not that she could blame him. To have your kid go missing was surely the worst nightmare. 

Still it might have been better if Holly had brought Rodney. Gail decided she should go and wait by the gate. Make sure Holly and the interns got into the house okay and weren’t too freaked by the guards.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘You can see Caitlin leaving school,’ Dov pointed out the small figure on the computer screen to Elaine and Oliver. 

Caitlin could be seen coming out of the school gates pushing her bike. Her backpack was slung over her shoulders. She was surrounded by a number of other kids and parents all on their way home, and she stopped just outside the gate to talk to a dark haired boy. Then she put on her helmet, waved the boy goodbye and got on the bike and started pedaling. Then she turned left onto a street bordering one side of the school grounds.

‘Is this surveillance from the school?’ Elaine asked.

‘Yes, the footage comes from their cameras. I’ve also got footage from CCTV cameras on main roads surrounding the school and the O’Leary house but Caitlin disappears after she turns that corner.’

‘So the school only had cameras out the front?’ Oliver asked.

‘Front and back but none on Caldicott, which is the street she turned onto. The school has a huge brick wall on that side of the grounds. Too high for anyone to climb so they didn’t think they needed surveillance.’

‘So the cameras are there to keep people out rather than track students,’ Oliver said.

‘Yeah.’

‘And do we know if Caitlin always turned onto Caldicott Street to get home?’ Elaine asked. 

‘No, it’s not her usual route,’ Dov said, ‘her parents told Gail she always turns right onto Smith Street which is one block down.’

‘Any footage for Caldicott?’ Elaine said.

‘None,’ Dov shook his head, ‘and as I said once she turns down Caldicott she disappears. Caldicott isn’t a big street but it feeds into a major road which has CCTV but she doesn’t show up on that.’

‘Could she have turned off into another street?’ Oliver asked.

‘There are only two other streets – Blake and Grimes - coming off Caldicott, both of which lead to intersections with CCTV. Caitlin wasn’t picked up by those cameras.’

‘So Caitlin disappeared on one of those three streets,’ Elaine said.

‘It looks that way,’ Dov agreed.

‘So what made her change her usual route and turn down Caldicott Street. What or maybe who was waiting for her there? Something must have lured her.’

‘Any registered sex offenders on Caldicott Street?’ Oliver asked

‘No,’ Elaine shook her head, ‘but one four streets away. Detectives Anderson and Price are on their way to interview him now.’

‘Is he a likely suspect?’ 

‘According to his file, he preferred little boys, though he didn’t always discriminate.’

Dov made a disgusted face.

‘As far as we know, he hasn’t reoffended since he was released from jail 10 years ago. Detective Epstein, how sure are you Caitlin doesn’t appear in any of the other surveillance footage you’ve obtained?’

‘Very certain. I’ve been through all the footage twice. I can look again.’

‘Do that. To be sure. In the meantime Oliver can you spare six uniforms? I think we need to door knock Caldicott, Blake and Grimes streets. Find out if anyone saw anything.’

‘Yes. We’ve got McNally, Diaz, Robinson and Moore, and I can pull Grainger and Caras off traffic duty,’ Oliver said. ‘What about sending them in once school gets out, around the time Caitlin disappeared? It might help jog someone’s memory.’

‘Good plan,’ Elaine agreed, ‘the officers can go back this evening to catch any residents they’ve missed who were out or at work.’

Oliver nodded. Missing children. It always meant overtime. Not that anyone begrudged that. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘I don’t have to talk to you. I’ve done nothing wrong,’ the man said, trying to shut the door in Frankie’s face. 

Frankie had quick reflexes and stuck her boot in the door, ignoring the sharp pain in her foot as the man repeatedly tried to ram the door shut.

‘We can cuff you and haul your ass down to the station,’ Frankie said, ‘would you prefer that? Bet your neighbors would enjoy the spectacle. Then we’d have to explain they were living next door to a known sex offender.’

‘Screw you’ the man said, but opened the door anyway.

‘Graham Fielding?’ Frankie asked, holding up her badge, ‘I’m Detective Anderson and this Detective Price. We just have a few questions.’

‘I have nothing to do with it. I haven’t touched anyone.’ 

Fielding was in his mid fifties. His grey hair was close cropped and he wasn’t exactly handsome but his features were pleasant. Nothing about the way he looked said pedophile, although in Chloe’s experience most pedophiles looked completely ordinary and it was only a few who conformed to the archetype of a sex offender.

‘Do with what Mr Fielding?’ Chloe asked, careful to keep her tone light and pleasant.

‘Whatever it is you’re accusing me of.’

‘What makes you think we’re accusing you of anything?’ Frankie asked.

‘Why else would you come barging down my door? You know what, this is harassment. I could make a complaint about this.’

Frankie regarded Fielding skeptically until he looked away.

‘Is there something you’ve done that you need to tell us about?’ Chloe asked, ‘something you need to get off your chest.’

‘Fuck, no,’ Fielding replied vehemently.

‘Why then did you say you haven’t touched anyone?’ Frankie asked.

‘I’m a registered sex offender. The only reason you’d want to question me is if a kid’s been assaulted, but I swear I haven’t touched any children since I was released from prison.’

‘So where were you around 3pm yesterday?’ Frankie said.

‘On my way to St Stephen’s. I had an appointment with my priest at 3.30. He counsels me about my ah urges.’

‘St Stephen’s is about six blocks from here. How did you get there?’ Chloe asked.

‘Walked. I don’t have a car. I don’t work. Nobody wants to hire someone like me.’

‘What time did you leave home?’

‘About 3pm.’

‘Okay,’ Frankie nodded, ‘do you mind if we take a look around?’

‘Yeah, why not. I’ve got nothing to hide.’

Fielding’s apartment was tiny. Just one bedroom and an open plan kitchen and living area. The carpet was threadbare and the walls badly in need of paint. Despite its shabbiness, Fielding kept it well ordered. He had few possessions, which gave the place a spartan and impersonal feel. A suit and a pair of jeans hung in bedroom closet, along with one good shirt. T-shirts, socks and underwear were neatly arranged on shelves lining one side of the closet. There was a religious cross over the bed and a bible on the bedside table, which Frankie picked up.

‘I found God in prison,’ said Fielding, who had come into the bedroom, ‘he is my redeemer. He stops me from doing evil.’

‘Do you own a computer, Mr Fielding?’ Frankie asked.

‘No. I don’t have anything that will tempt me to look at evil images. No computer. No cell phone. No cable television.’

‘Have you ever seen this little girl?’ Chloe held up the photo of Caitlin.

Fielding started. ‘I, I. No. No. Never.’

‘Are you sure, because from the way you reacted I’d say you recognized her,’ Frankie said, ‘how bout we continue this conversation down at the station.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

When Holly pulled up in front of O’Leary’s house, she hadn’t expected it to be quite so huge or so showy nor had she anticipated the armed guards blocking access. The two interns, Wilson in particular, were looking nervous and Holly wished she hadn’t asked them to tag along.

‘Just stay close to me,’ Holly had muttered as the three of them approached the guards. 

Gail was standing on the other side of the gate and Holly wondered if she’d come out here on purpose to make sure she and the interns were okay.

‘I can vouch for them,’ Gail called out while the guards checked their IDs. 

One of the guards looked up briefly, and then, ignoring Gail went back to scrutinizing Holly’s work ID. Finally he gestured for the three of them to go through and the other guard opened the gate.

‘Hey’ Gail said softly, ‘sorry about that. Everyone’s a bit on edge.’

‘Makes sense under the circumstances,’ Holly said.

‘Yeah,’ Gail agreed and nodded at Natasha and Wilson, ‘just stick to me until we get to Caitlin’s room.’

‘So O’Leary agreed we can go through her room but won’t give DNA,’ Holly said.

‘Yeah, but Maree O’Leary – the mother – is happy for you to take her DNA.’

‘Her DNA will be enough to match with Caitlin’s. Especially if we need to rely on mitochondrial DNA.’

‘Mitochondrial? Don’t you use that when the DNA sample is impaired in some way.’

‘Yeah, it’s generally not as reliable as nuclear DNA but if the nuclear DNA is damaged, for example by extreme heat, it can’t used for identification. But mitochondrial DNA can often be found in very small or damaged DNA samples.’

‘So you’ll get mitochondrial DNA from Maree?’

‘Yes, we inherit mitochondrial DNA from our mothers.’

‘Something else I need to thank Elaine for,’ Gail said drily.

‘Why has O’Leary refused to give a DNA sample? Is he worried we’ll use it to link him to a cold case,’ Holly asked.

Gail shrugged, ‘Makes sense.’

‘Does he realize we’ll take samples of Caitlin’s DNA from her room and those samples could be used to connect him to other crimes. Half her nuclear DNA comes from him.’

Gail stopped and put a hand on Holly’s arm, ‘Best not to mention that. He’s reluctant enough as it is. The three of you should just keep your heads down in there. If O’Leary has any questions, I’ll answer them.’

Gail’s expression was impassive but Holly was starting to recognize the cop face, and she could see that below the outward calm, Gail was wary and alert. There was a tension there that most people would miss but Holly saw in the way Gail held herself, in the slight narrowing of her eyes and the smile with which she greeted Holly, which for all intents and purposes looked like a smile but Holly knew wasn’t Gail’s real smile.

‘Should we be worried?’ Holly asked.

‘No, I’m just being cautious. O’Leary’s a bit volatile and I don’t want anything to set him off.’

Holly nodded grimly.

‘Anyway, I wouldn’t let you in there if I thought it was dangerous,’ Gail said, her tone reassuring. 

Holly felt less nervous then. In truth she felt safe. Protected. It was odd in a way, or maybe not so much odd as new. She was used to looking out for herself at work and in her personal life. Here standing outside the house, Gail radiated a calm, a dependability and Holly trusted her to make the right call about O’Leary. And it wasn’t just because Gail was her girlfriend. Holly wondered if members of the public experienced this when Gail went to their aid, this sense she could be relied upon to shield them from harm, to steer them through whatever misfortune had befallen them.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Caitlin's room was decorated in bold colors, mainly purples and reds and Gail had a feeling she'd like this kid. No girlie pinks here. Obviously an avid reader, she had the complete set of Harry Potter books lined up on a bookshelf over her desk. There were some mystery books too. Serafina and the Black Cloak and Serafina and the Twisted Staff, and several Nancy Drew mysteries which Gail suspected were a gift from a grandmother who had read the books as a girl. 

It was a typical ten year old’s room. Stuffed toys on the bed, bright prints on the wall, an old fashioned stamp set and a set of coloring pencils on the desk. Unlike the rest of the house, the room was painted an off white with a feature wall behind the bed of red, purple and orange squares bordered by white. Two large initials, CL, made from wood and painted lime green, adorned one wall and a glow in the dark solar system complete with shooting stars was stuck to the ceiling. 

Holly had extracted hair from Caitlin’s brush and bagged her toothbrush when O’Leary appeared in the hallway. He nodded at Gail and she moved aside to let him stand at the door. After a moment, he turned to Gail, his back to the room.

‘So how is your brother?’

‘Don’t know,’ Gail shrugged casually, her face neutral.

‘Don’t keep in touch?’

‘We were never close,’ Gail said matter of factly

‘So where’s he living now?’

‘No idea and I don’t care either.’

‘Yeah,’ O’Leary took a step towards Gail and then another until he was looming over her. 

He was taller than Gail and broad and there an ugly sneer on his face as he leaned in so close she could feel his breath, hot and sour, against her own face. From her position, Gail could see into Caitlin’s room and she noticed Holly straighten quickly and move towards the door where she and O’Leary stood. So Gail did that thing where she didn’t move her head and barely moved her eyes. In fact the movement was almost imperceptible yet somehow urgent, and it was as if she was actually shaking her head vigorously. Holly stopped, even though her instinct was to go forward, even though internally she was screaming at herself to ignore Gail's unspoken entreaty to stay back.

O’Leary didn’t seem to notice Gail’s look because he leaned in even closer and said in a harsh voice, ‘You find my little girl and I’ll forget my vendetta against the Pecks. Then you, and especially Steve, can breathe a little easier.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Elaine up to something? And what has she got Gail into?


	31. Thirty-one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos, subscriptions, bookmarks and for reading. Hope you enjoy this. Apologies for any mistakes.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Gail shepherded Holly and the two interns out of the house to their car. O’Leary had disappeared into his study again, and Traci was still with Maree in the kitchen. As Wilson and Natasha stowed the gear in the trunk, Gail hung back with Holly. They had barely said a word to each other since O’Leary had threatened Gail.

When Gail made it clear she shouldn’t interfere, Holly had stood absolutely still, staring at the back of the gang leader’s head. Gail watched Holly draw herself in, literally, to stop herself from giving way to the instinct to defend Gail. Then Holly had quietly set about doing her job, only speaking when she needed to give the interns instructions or ask a question. 

It reminded Gail of that day in the woods when they’d found two more of Trent’s victims, one with a message for Gail carved in her stomach. Then Holly couldn’t look at Gail, couldn’t even acknowledge her presence, couldn’t bear to because she was so frightened for Gail. Almost paralyzed by it. So it became easier to focus on work, on practicalities and procedure and on the science that was known and logical. 

O’Leary had put his back to Gail and watched as Holly and the interns went about collecting samples. After a moment he turned and nodded at Gail. His expression wasn’t friendly but neither did it hold its earlier menace, rather it was as if the two of them had struck some sort of deal. Then O’Leary left, going back downstairs presumably, Gail thought, to his study.

‘So you got all the samples you needed?’ Gail asked finally, knowing Holly had but desperate to break the silence. Gail could see Wilson and Natasha had almost finished packing the car and she wanted to set Holly’s mind at rest before she left for the morgue. 

Holly stopped and looked at Gail and nodded but her expression was bleak. Gail could tell Holly wanted to say something and she was fairly certain what it was.

‘Hey,’ Gail said softly, lightly touching the inside of Holly’s hand, ‘it’s okay. It was just bravado.’

‘That man threatened you,’ Holly said, ‘you shouldn’t be on this case. What was Elaine thinking.’

Gail bit her lip. She tried not to look worried but she had a feeling Elaine might have just landed her in a whole lot of trouble. As far as she knew, O’Leary had forgotten about Steve but now it seemed her presence had stirred things up again. Gail was fairly certain she’d figured out Elaine’s plan and it had backfired spectacularly.

‘The Superintendent’s wants Caitlin’s DNA to see if she can link O’Leary to other crimes doesn’t she?’ Holly asked.

Gail nodded slowly. ‘It figures. If she can put away O’Leary, then Steve won’t have this threat hanging over him anymore’

‘And she doesn’t care she’s put you in danger?’ Holly’s voice had begun to rise. 

Gail noticed the interns look up and across at them with interest. This was probably not the best place to be having this conversation. Especially with the two thugs at the gate observing the exchange. At least the guards were far enough away they couldn’t overhear, and Gail had positioned herself so they wouldn’t see she was touching Holly’s hand.

‘I think my mother’s been too clever for her own good. O’Leary’s not known for his brains but he’s cunning. He must have guessed this is a possibility.’

‘So why agree to let us collect DNA samples from Caitlin’s room?’

‘He’s her father. He loves her and he wants her back,’ Gail said simply, ‘and maybe O’Leary thinks Elaine won’t use the DNA to put him away but as a bargaining chip.’

‘Wait, are you saying if we link O’Leary to another crime, Elaine would agree not to pursue a case against him in exchange for leaving Steve alone?’ Holly frowned, ‘Would Elaine do that? It’s corrupt.’

Gail bit her lip again. 

‘I don’t know, but I’m fast learning nothing is beyond my family,’ she smiled ruefully. ‘Hey, you better get going. Your minions are waiting for you.’ 

Gail gave a slight jerk of her head to indicate the car. She could feel Holly hesitating so she took her hand more firmly and pressed it gently, and then leaned in close.

‘I’ll be all right. Traci is here. Anyway O’Leary just wants his daughter back. He pretty much only knows how to communicate in threats, so what he said back there, well that was probably just his way of making sure I did my job.’

Holly sighed, clearly not convinced. She held Gail’s gaze for a moment.

‘Be safe,’ she finally said, and gave Gail’s hand a squeeze, ‘I love you.’

‘I know,’ Gail smiled, ‘and I love you too nerd.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

When Elaine heard the call was from O'Leary she immediately asked for him to be put through. Before she had a chance to greet him or in fact take control of the conversation as she normally did, O'Leary was yelling down the phone.

'What the fuck are you playing at, Superintendent,' he said, 'sending your daughter here.'

'Detective Peck is one of our finest,' Elaine said, not allowing herself to be put off by O'Leary, 'I would expect you'd want our best officers looking for your daughter.'

'She better be,' O'Leary snarled, 'because if either of you use Caitlin's disappearance to come after me, your daughter will pay. And I know plenty of ways to make her tell me where her brother is.'

'Are you threatening a police officer,' Elaine started to say but O'Leary disconnected before she could finish.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘This is my first year teaching,’ Julia Lombardo explained.

She was tiny, gamine and reminded Gail a little of Audrey Hepburn. Just this past weekend, when Holly discovered Gail hadn’t seen any of her films she insisted they watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Roman Holiday. Julia had the same oval face and big almond shaped eyes, and her dark hair was cut short with a blunt fringe high on her forehead. 

Unlike Audrey Hepburn her skin was olive, thanks Gail guessed to an Italian heritage. Julia barely looked like she was out of school herself, and as this thought crossed her mind Gail realized how old it made her sound. 

‘I shouldn’t have favorites, but Caitlin is such a bright spark,’ Julia continued.

‘What was she doing on the phone when you confiscated it?’ Traci asked.

‘Playing Candy Crush.’

‘So she wasn’t texting anyone?’

Julia shook her head. ‘Should I be worried?’ she asked nervously. She held a paperclip between her hands, tangling and untangling it over and over. 

‘What do you mean?’ Traci said.

‘Well, everyone knows Niall O’Leary’s a gangster. Most of the parents won’t let their kids play with Caitlin because of that. And that guy he sent to get the phone was kind of aggressive.’

‘Did he threaten you,’ Gail said, looking up sharply.

‘No, not exactly. He was just a little menacing. He stood over me while I unlocked my desk to get Caitlin’s phone. Then as he left he said I should pray Caitlin was okay and hadn’t gone missing because she didn’t have her cell.’

‘It’s probably just talk,’ Traci said, ‘sometimes when people are worried they need someone to blame.’

‘But call us immediately,’ Gail said, handing Julia their cards, ‘if you’re worried about anything at all or if O’Leary does threaten you.’

Julia nodded.

‘Have you noticed anyone hanging around the school lately. Someone who doesn’t belong?’ Traci asked. The Principal had already confirmed there had been no reports of strangers lurking in the vicinity of the school, but still Traci thought it was worth double-checking.

‘No. You don’t think she’s been taken by someone like that?’ The teacher’s face creased with concern.

‘We just need to rule things out.’

‘I hope you find her soon. She’s such a special little girl. Full of joy and life,’ Julia said, her voice faltering, ‘I can’t imagine what her parents are going through. Maree often volunteers in the classroom. Caitlin means the world to her.’  
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Reverend Robert Siddle had a genial boyish face. Frankie guessed he was in his early forties. Tall and broad, he had the sort of looks that were a little too pleasant to be handsome. She would have picked him for a Phys Ed teacher rather than a preacher.

‘Graham attends a program I run for sex-offenders. I do group and one on one sessions. We had an individual session yesterday afternoon.’

‘What time?’ Frankie asked.

‘3.30pm but he was running late. He got there about quarter to four. I thought maybe he’d forgotten the appointment and I was about to call him when he turned up.’

Frankie looked across at Chloe. Fifteen minutes late. Was that enough time for Graham Fielding to snatch Caitlin and hide her somewhere and still get to St Stephen’s for his appointment with the Reverend.

‘How did he seem when he showed?’

‘Um, normal. He apologized for running late.’

‘So not out of breath or agitated?’

The Reverend shook his head.

‘Did he explain why he was late?’ Chloe asked.

‘Graham said he had some errands.’

‘Did he say what those errands were?’ Frankie asked.

Reverend Siddle shook his head. ‘I didn’t have any reason to ask.

‘So was this a regularly scheduled session?’ Chloe said.

‘No, he,’ the Reverend stopped, ‘I feel like I’m breaking his confidence. Graham trusts me. He’s working really hard to rehabilitate himself.’

‘Do you believe it’s possible for men like him to rehabilitate?’ Frankie asked.

‘I have to. The alternative is too awful to contemplate. I don’t believe Graham has reoffended since he was released from jail.’

‘Reverend, a little girl is missing. You might have information that could lead us to her. Alternatively it might allow us eliminate Graham as a suspect which means we can turn our attention to other leads,’ Frankie said.

Reverend Siddle nodded but still looked conflicted.

‘So why did he make an appointment with you?’ Chloe asked gently.

The Reverend hesitated for a moment before answering. ‘I don’t want you to take this the wrong way but two girls had stopped to talk to him three days ago when he was on his way home from the shops. He usually avoids children and it unsettled him.’

‘Unsettled him?’ Frankie asked.

‘He found it difficult to suppress the fantasies.’

‘About the girls?’

‘Not necessarily. His preference is for boys.’

‘Would Graham have acted on those fantasies?’ Frankie said.

‘I don’t believe so, no. Otherwise he wouldn’t have come to see me. He wanted me to help him control those thoughts.’

‘Did Graham say anything else about the girls. How old they were. Their names?’ Chloe asked.

‘No, but I got the impression they were ten or eleven. He said they were on bikes.’

.………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘Do you think Julia Lombardo should be worried?’ Gail asked Traci. 

After leaving the school, Gail and Traci double backed to the O'Leary's street, although this time they were headed to the home of Caitlin's best friend, Macy Harris. 

‘I don’t think so, although O’Leary can be volatile. You’d think he’d be focused on helping us find his daughter rather than retribution.’

‘Tell that to Mickey Chen. You know we’re going to have to look at him and Maree as possible suspects.’

‘Yep,’ Traci sighed, ‘my gut says they’re not involved. O’Leary is a thug, but I get the feeling he and Maree are devoted to Caitlin.’

Even though they lived two doors apart, the Harris' house, though spacious, was far more modest than the O'Leary residence. A two-story clapboard, it was painted a cheery light blue and had a wide wrap around verandah. Queen Anne revival, Gail decided, probably built in the late 1800's

She hadn't ever thought much about architecture until purchasing her own house. The interest grew when she dated Olivia, an architect passionate about renovating Victorian era buildings. Which was how Gail had met her. Olivia had drawn up the plans for Gail's renovation. Still even Gail had been surprised at how much she had gotten caught up in Olivia’s enthusiasm.

Holly loved the house, and Gail wondered if it was weird living in a place that so clearly bore the mark of one of her exes. Not that she and Olivia had started anything until the renovation was finished. If it hadn't been for Holly it might have been different, but after six months Olivia realized Gail was incapable of loving her completely and certainly not in the way she loved Gail, and she left. It had been something of a relief to Gail not to be the one to do the breaking-up. She had, however, felt a measure of guilt for going into the relationship knowing she couldn't be in it as wholeheartedly as Olivia.

Yep, it was a fact. Holly had ruined her for anyone else, Gail thought as she and Traci climbed the steps to the Harris' house. Traci lifted the large brass knocker and rapped it against the door. Almost immediately they heard footsteps.

Paula Harris was a large big boned woman with an easy, welcoming smile. She'd be the type of mother who'd envelop you in warm hugs and feed you up on home baked treats, Gail decided.

'Macy's in the kitchen. We've just made brownies,' she said, confirming Gail's impression was at least half right.

As Gail and Traci followed her down the corridor, Paula stopped suddenly. 

'Macy's very upset. That's why I kept her home from school today. We can stop the interview anytime can't we?'

'Of course,' Traci nodded, 'we're not going to push Macy in any way and we certainly don't want to cause her further distress.'

'Okay,' Paula smiled at them briefly. A tight little smile which couldn't disguise the worry in her eyes. A protective mother as well, Gail thought.

Macy was sitting at the kitchen table. Her face was smeared with chocolate and there was an empty mixing bowl by her side and she was licking the last of the brownie mixture from a spoon. There was something about her that reminded Gail of Sophie. Even though she knew Sophie was happy with her new family, as always when she thought about Sophie, Gail felt a stab of regret and of grief.

'You're pretty,' Macy said to Gail when Paula introduced the two detectives. 

Gail smiled at Macy widely, and Macy smiled back. Traci observed the two with fascination. She knew children gravitated to Gail, and Gail in turn treated them with a generosity and a gentleness that, until the appearance of Holly, seemed entirely out of character. Leo adored Gail. In some ways she was like a big kid and maybe this explained her affinity with children, but Traci suspected it went deeper than that. 

Unlike Macy, Gail didn't have a warm and nurturing upbringing. No, Elaine and Bill had seen childhood as an opportunity to shape Gail and Steve into the adults they wanted them to be. From what Steve had said the two of them, but Gail especially, had been subjected to endless tests and drills and exercises and somehow Gail always fell short of those weird exPecktations. No wonder she found it hard to trust when her parents' love had been so conditional and when their chief way of communicating was to bully and manipulate. 

Despite Gail’s own complexity, there was straightforwardness in kids that appealed to Gail, Traci decided. Maybe because it was knocked out of her so quickly as a child. It was this desire for the uncomplicated which led Gail to that ill-matched relationship with Chris. Simple was different to straightforward. At least, Traci thought, Gail had found Holly. Smart like Gail, but with absolutely no interest in game playing.

'Caitlin wants to be a detective,' Macy said.

'Yeah,' Gail said, 'does she like investigating things?'

Macy nodded solemnly.

'So sometimes do you and Caitlin pretend to be detectives and go investigate things?'

Macy started to nod and then her eyes went wide and she shook her head.

'We're not allowed,' Macy's eyes darted to her mother and then back to Gail, 'we always go the same way to school and back home and don’t stop for anything. Caitlin's dad made us promise.'

'Sometimes,' Gail said, sounding like she was about to tell a story, 'sometimes we can't always keep our promises and that's okay. Everyone breaks a promise once in a while.'

Macy eyed Gail uncertainly.

'Did you and Caitlin ever go a different way to school, maybe stop and talk to someone?'

Macy screwed her eyes shut and shook her head.

'No, no, no. We're not allowed,' she insisted.

'It's okay. You won't get into trouble,' Gail looked across at Paula, who had sat down next to Macy, 'will she?'

'No, baby girl,' Paula said kindly, 'you won't be in trouble. It's important you tell the Detective everything so she can find Caitlin quicker.'

'We did what we were told,' Macy said, a single tear sliding down her face. Her head was bowed. She wouldn't look at Gail anymore and Gail knew there was something she wasn't telling them.

'Are you scared of Caitlin's father?' Gail asked.

Macy looked up at Gail then. Just for a moment, but her expression was one of surprise, alarm even. Had she hit the nail on the head, Gail wondered. Was Macy surprised because Gail had not only figured out she wasn't being completely honest but the reason why? Gail sensed Macy wasn't in the habit of lying and her reaction seemed to confirm that.

'No,' Macy breathed out. She turned and buried her face in her mother's neck and began to sob. Loud, uncontrollable gasps. Paula wrapped her arms around Macy and drew her closer into a tight embrace.

'It's okay, it's okay baby girl,' Paula whispered over and over, rocking Macy slightly. 

Gail bit her lip. She hated seeing Macy like this, hated that it was her questioning that had made the girl so upset.

'We should stop now,' Paula said firmly, looking up at Gail and Traci.

'Of course,' Traci said.

She and Gail stood up from the table. 

'I’m sorry Macy for making you so sad,' Gail said, 'but I really want to find Caitlin. You are her best friend which means you know her best of all and maybe there is something only you know which could help us find her.'

Macy’s sobs became louder and even more wretched and she clutched her mother harder.

'That is enough Detective,' Paula said tersely, her expression a lot less friendly than earlier.

'Okay. I'm sorry,' Gail said softly.

...........................................................................................................

Holly had begun extracting the DNA from the saliva left on Caitlin's toothbrush when Elaine showed up in the lab. Having sent the interns on a late lunch break, Holly was alone.

'How close are you to getting a DNA profile?' Elaine asked.

'I'm just at the beginning of the process. It takes a while,' Holly said, wondering if this impatience for DNA results was a Peck thing.

'Hmm,' Elaine nodded then cleared her throat, 'I'm wondering if you could do something for me Holly.'

Holly looked at Elaine sharply. There was something in her tone she didn't like. Elaine had never asked anything of Holly before. From what Gail and others said the Superintendent didn't take kindly to being told no. 

'Yes Elaine,' Holly said evenly, deciding to use her first name seeing as Elaine hadn't addressed her as Dr Stewart. Maybe that's why there was something off about Elaine's manner. She was normally a stickler for using formal titles in the workplace.

'Once you've identified Caitlin's DNA sequence I'd like you to compare it with DNA from two cold cases.'

It wasn't so much a request as an order.

'Looking for a familial match?' Holly asked.

'So you'll do it,' Elaine said, the eagerness in her voice indicating she thought Holly was on the same page. 

'Elaine, you know the protocol,' Holly sighed, wondering if Elaine really imagined she would agree so readily. 'You need to lodge a formal request. Put it in the system. But, as I'm sure you're aware, current investigations take priority, unless you have a compelling reason to bump this up the queue.'

'I was hoping we could avoid a paper trail, at least for now. No need to stir things up unless there is a match.'

'Is your plan to charge O'Leary or blackmail him?' Holly was surprised at how calm she sounded. Elaine, a senior police officer, her girlfriend's mother, had just asked her to do something that, while technically not illegal, fell into a very grey area. If not a sackable offence, at the very least Holly would receive a reprimand if she were found out.

'That's a very serious allegation you appear to be making,' Elaine said stiffly.

'I can only think of one reason you'd want this off the record - you're hoping to use this information in some way to protect Steve.'

'And if I say yes will you do it?'

'No,' Holly said firmly, 'not only is it ethically wrong but it would be an abuse of my position as deputy chief.'

'Holly, I don't think you understand dear. You are family now and in the Peck family we look out for each other.'

'Funny,' Holly said, not bothering to disguise the bitterness she felt in that moment, 'that never seemed to work out that well for Gail.'

Elaine tightened her lips into a grim line that was equal parts approbation and anger.

'Sometimes Holly we don't have the luxury of taking the high moral ground.'

'Make a request for us to reopen those cases and if we can prove O'Leary's involved, you'll get a conviction.'

'You won't help me then?'

'No.'

'Not even when O'Leary has threatened Gail?' 

There was something almost triumphant in the way Elaine spoke, like she'd found the very thing to make Holly crumble. Had literally pulled out that trump card.

Holly looked at Elaine steadily. She didn't trust herself to speak. Had Gail told her mother about O'Leary's threat back at the house? Did Elaine know Holly had heard it? Had seen O'Leary stand over Gail. Surely Elaine could see she had caused this mess. She must have realized how provocative it was to send Gail to interview O'Leary.

Holly didn't feel calm anymore. Instead she felt a rage building, hot and uncontrollable and so unlike her. Even Lisa at her stupidest, at her most inconsiderate and narcissistic hadn't made Holly feel this consuming anger. 

Just as Holly was about to speak, to say what she didn't know because her resolve to be calm, her usual level headedness, had deserted her, she heard a cough. Actually, it was more a deliberate clearing of the throat. She looked across to see Natasha at the door. How long had the intern been standing there, Holly wondered? She took a deep breath and turned back to Elaine.

'I think we're done here, Superintendent. Now if you'll excuse us, Dr LaPaige and I need to get back to work.' Holly made sure nothing about the way she spoke sounded like a request.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

'So the Reverend said you were late for your meeting,' Frankie said, 'why was that?'

She was sitting at the table in an interrogation room, arms crossed, her expression skeptical. Chloe was on her right, and Graham Fielding was across from them, cuffed to the table.

'I had to collect something,' Graham shifted uncomfortably in his chair, wincing as the movement caused the handcuffs to dig into his wrists.

'What was it you needed to collect? Wasn't a ten year old girl by any chance?'

'No!' Graham glared at Frankie, 'I could have touched those girls. I could have but I didn't. I tried not to talk to them but they kept asking me questions.'

'Which girls?' Frankie asked sharply.

'The one in the photo and the little black girl. She said her name was Macy.'

'When was this?'

'Three days ago. It was on Caldicott Street. They were coming home from school. The chain on Macy's bike had fallen off and they asked me to fix it.'

'And did you?'

'Yes and then I left. I swear. You can ask Macy.'

'So you didn't arrange to meet Caitlin again or decide to wait for her when she left school yesterday?'

'No!'

'So,' Chloe spoke for the first time, 'what did you need to collect yesterday on your way to see Reverend Siddle.'

Graham shrugged.

'My partner here,' Chloe said pleasantly, in fact quite conversationally, 'is this close', she held up her thumb and forefinger to indicate an inch, 'to charging you with child abduction. If you're not involved with Caitlin's disappearance then you need to help us out here. Tell us what made you late.'

Graham looked down as if considering.

'I went to see my dealer,’ he finally said, ‘to buy some weed. I get anxious when I interact with children. It helps calm that.'

'Yeah?' Frankie raised a skeptical eyebrow, 'who's your dealer?'

'Marty Finnegan.'

Frankie caught Chloe's eye. Finnegan was a small time dealer, but his brother Pat worked for O'Leary.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Some hours after her conversation with Elaine, Holly walked back into the lab to find the Superintendent speaking to Natasha. It had been a busy afternoon and Holly had taken five minutes out to get some fresh air and a drink of water. Wilson was assisting Rodney with an autopsy and Natasha had stayed behind to help Holly process the samples taken from Caitlin's room. 

Holly stopped in the doorway when she saw Elaine. The Superintendent had her back to the door so didn't immediately notice Holly.

'I never forget a favor,' Elaine was saying, her voice all charm and flattery, 'you seem very good at your job. I do have some influence over which of you interns will be offered a permanent position.'

Natasha looked pained. A heavily furrowed brow marred her normally attractive features, making that perfectly symmetrical face seem off kilter. She pursed her lips and hesitated for a moment before replying.

'Superintendent Peck, I believe, as Dr Stewart told you earlier, you need to lodge a formal request.'

'So you don't care about your career?'

'I care very much about my career which is why I'm suggesting you follow protocol,' Natasha stammered.  


'Well, you might not care about your career, but what about Officer Robinson. You two are dating aren't you?'

Natasha nodded.

'Do you think she’ll be happy never being anything but a beat cop?'

'Enough Elaine,' Holly said, stepping into the room.

Elaine turned around. If she was surprised to see Holly, she disguised it well. She went to speak but Holly cut her off.

'I'm going to assume it's concern over the welfare of your children which has driven you to take the unorthodox step of approaching not just me but Dr LaPaige to do these tests. So I won't report your behavior. However, if you don't submit a formal request for us to carry out this work, I will reconsider reporting you.'

'Holly, I don't think you realize why it’s important we do it this way. If O'Leary knows I'm going after him, he'll go after Gail.'

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

During Gail and Traci’s absence from the station, Elaine and Oliver had set up an Incident room. Which was where they found themselves at 9pm, along with Frankie, Chloe, Dov and Oliver for a briefing from Elaine. As Gail looked around the assembled team, she could see they were all beginning to flag. They’d been pursuing leads for close to fourteen hours with few results. Except for the surveillance footage, it was like Caitlin had disappeared into thin air. Worse still, it was now thirty hours since the little girl had gone missing.

'So,' Elaine said, 'surveillance footage shows Caitlin turning down Caldicott Street and that's the last we see her. Graham Fielding confirmed he spoke to Caitlin and Macy two days ago on Caldicott Street.'

'So is there something or someone who lured these two girls down that street?' Gail said. 

'You didn't ask Macy?' Dov said.

'She was adamant she and Caitlin hadn't changed their route home. She became upset when we pressed her, and her mother stopped the interview.'

'Have you tried again since Fielding said he saw them on Caldicott?' Frankie asked.

'Yeah, Paula - Macy's mother - still won't let us talk to her. She agreed to ask Macy herself and came back saying Macy denied having been on Caldicott or meeting Fielding. I got the sense Macy wasn't being entirely truthful. She's frightened of something. Maybe O'Leary because it sounds like he was really strict about Macy and Caitlin sticking to the agreed route to and from school.'

'Okay,' Elaine said briskly, 'Detectives Nash and Peck, I want you to try Macy again in the morning. Maybe she and her mother will be calmer or at least more amenable after a night's sleep.'

Traci and Gail nodded.

'And Fielding's in the clear?' Traci asked.

'Yep. We spoke to his dealer who confirmed he was there just after 3pm. The dealer lives a way past the church so there wouldn't have been time for him to double back, take Caitlin, hide her somewhere and still make it to the church by 3.45,' Frankie said.

‘Could someone have helped him snatch Caitlin?’ Oliver asked.

Frankie shook her head. ‘I doubt it. He’s definitely a loner. According to his record, he acts alone. But we can look into that.’

'The dealer's connection to O'Leary could be worth pursuing,' Chloe said.

'It's a tenuous connection at best,’ Elaine said dismissively, ‘what about the parents? What’s your take on them?’

‘Genuinely grieving. I very much doubt they are responsible,’ Traci said, ‘I spoke to Maree O’Leary privately and she admitted her husband quote “sometimes has a quick temper” but said never at home and never with Caitlin. I believe her.’

Elaine nodded. ‘The uniforms door knocked Caldicott and the adjacent streets this afternoon and came up with nothing. They’re canvassing again right now, speaking to anyone who wasn’t at home earlier. Unless they find something of interest, I suggest we call it a night. It’s late and I doubt we can achieve anything more today. Let’s reassemble here at 7am.’

As Oliver and the five detectives began to shuffle out of the room, Elaine said, ‘Oh, Detective Peck a word before you go.’

Gail turned, a quizzical look on her face. Elaine didn’t speak until the door was shut.

‘I spoke to Holly today and she wasn’t very cooperative.’ The way Elaine said it was as if it Gail was somehow to blame for Holly’s intransigence.

‘What do you mean?’ Gail asked warily, because her mother’s statement confirmed, just as Gail suspected, that the Superintendent was up to something.

‘I wonder if you could use your influence,’ Elaine ignored Gail’s question, ‘I need Holly to run some tests on the side. Discretely. We have two cold cases - murders and we’re certain O’Leary was the killer, but we’ve never been able to prove it. We have DNA taken from the scenes. I need Holly to check if Caitlin’s DNA is a familial match.’

‘And then you’ll blackmail O’Leary to stay away from Steve.’

‘No one said anything about blackmail, Abigail. I want him convicted.’

‘And what’s to stop one of his lieutenants, who’ll no doubt take over the gang if O’Leary’s jailed, from going after Steve.’

‘Oh I doubt that will happen. Once O’Leary’s out of the picture, Lee Chou will move in. It will be the end of O’Leary’s gang and our problem.’ Elaine smiled smugly, entirely pleased with herself.

‘So you’re happy to let a man who has links with Hong Kong triads, and is rumored to trade not just guns and drugs but sex slaves, to have unfettered control of Toronto just to keep Steve safe.’

‘You always were dramatic,’ Elaine sighed, ‘of course we’ll find ways of going after Chou. With O’Leary gone, we can concentrate our efforts on shutting down Chou.’

‘So why the secrecy? Why ask Holly to do this “discretely”,’ Gail made air quotes.

‘Because O’Leary will come after us. In fact you in particular if he gets wind of this plan.’

Gail looked at her mother in disbelief. 

‘You engineered this. You made this happen,’ Gail shook her head, ‘anything for Steve. Even sending me in as bait.’

‘Really, Gail,’ Elaine protested.

‘O’Leary’s ten year old daughter is missing. He is a grieving father and we should treat him as such. Once we find Caitlin, then you should investigate him but not before and not in secret.’

‘But,’ Elaine began.

‘And I’m about to go and congratulate Holly for standing up to you. And if you ever try and bully her again, one I will never speak to you ever again, and two I’ll report you so fast you’ll have whiplash.’

With that Gail left, careful to slam the door on her way out. It was childish but she knew how much it would irritate her mother.  
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gail found Holly in her office. She was intently focused on a document open on her computer, her brow puckered in concentration, and Gail could tell by the dark circles under her eyes how tired she was. Not only had it been a long day and they were seemingly no closer to finding Caitlin then, as Gail had just found out, Elaine had paid Holly a visit.

‘Hey,’ Gail said softly from the doorway.

‘Hey,’ Holly looked up, a smile breaking across her face at the sight of Gail.

‘I’ve come to take you home,’ Gail said, walking into the room.

‘I’ve still got this report to finish,’ Holly said, making a face.

‘You look exhausted. Can it wait til morning?’ Gail kissed Holly on the lips and then leant back against the desk, her arms crossed.

‘I guess. I’m beginning to think I never should have applied for this job. There wasn’t this much paperwork when I was just a pathologist.’

‘Yeah, I guess that’s what happens when you go further up the work ladder,’ Gail said sympathetically, ‘but I’ve ordered Thai take-out, and I have cold beer and it’s time you quit work for today and come home with me.’

‘Why are you being so nice?’

‘I’m you’re girlfriend. I’m always nice. To you anyway’

Holly laughed. It was true though. Lisa of course and even Rachel worried the relationship was one sided, that Holly was too empathetic and it was she who was always looking after Gail. People rarely saw it but in private Gail was sweet and solicitous and made Holly feel so incredibly loved. 

‘Actually,’ Gail said, biting her lip uncertainly at the admission she was about to make. ‘I know Elaine came to speak to you and you refused to cave. And believe me I know how hard it is to say no to Elaine when she’s insistent like that, well being a bully, and I’m impressed by your resolve, but then of course you wouldn’t crumble because you’re strong and have integrity, which is something my mother seems to be sorely lacking. But I know how soul destroying it can be dealing with Superintendent Mom and I’m so sorry you had to experience that but.’

Before Gail could finish, Holly stood and, cupping her cheeks, kissed her.

‘You just had to stop talking,’ Holly smirked.

Gail grinned then.

‘Okay, but as I said I’ve ordered Thai takeout, I’ve got cold beer and so now all I need to do is take you home because I’m not planning on eating or drinking alone.’

‘Bossy,’ Holly teased.

‘You don’t like me being bossy?’

‘Oh,’ Holly said, linking her arms around Gail’s neck, and pushing her body up against Gail’s, ‘oh, I like it very much.’

This time when Gail bit her lip it was in a futile attempt to suppress the mischievous smile breaking out across her face. 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gail was choking. O’Leary pulled the cord around her neck tighter and tighter until her head snapped back. Her eyes were bulging and she was fighting for air. The room was bare except for a single chair to which Gail had been tied, hands bound together at the wrists. 

A naked bulb on a long cord swayed hypnotically above the chair and Holly had a flash of someone swinging from a noose. She’d been called out to one of those when she was in San Francisco. The detective in charge had wanted to call it suicide and was annoyed when Holly demurred, unwillingly to give a finding until she’d done a thorough examination. Turned out to be murder, the man strung up, lynched.

One of Gail’s fingers had been severed and there was a steady drip drip of blood from the gaping wound onto the linoleum floor. O’Leary stood behind her gloating.

‘If we can’t have Steve, you’ll do,’ he said, yanking the cord so hard Gail’s head snapped back.

‘It’s a fair trade,’ a voice Holly recognized said, and then suddenly Elaine stepped out of the shadows from somewhere behind O’Leary, smiling hideously.

Then there was a gurgling sound, ghastly and primal, and Holly realized it came from Gail. O’Leary let go of the cord and Gail’s head fell forward, lifeless.  
Holly tried to scream but no sound came out. She was in the room but somehow not there. O’Leary and Elaine certainly hadn’t noticed her. She tried to get to Gail but her feet wouldn’t move. She could feel the panic rising and then she did scream ‘No, No, No’ over and over again. 

Then Gail was holding her and shaking her gently awake, making soft shushing noises and saying ‘it’s alright Holly, it was just a nightmare.’

Now it was Holly who was gulping air and, even though she tried to suppress it, a little sob, which was more hiccup than sob, escaped from deep within her chest. Holly buried her head in Gail’s neck and wrapped her arms around her waist, pulling Gail flush against her, gripping her tightly. 

‘It’s okay, Holly,’ Gail soothed, ‘you’re okay.’

This time a louder sob came from Holly, muffled slightly because she still had her face pressed into Gail’s neck. 

‘Do you want to talk about it?’ Gail asked softly, tentatively. 

She felt rather than saw Holly shake her head. It was just after 3.30am. That time where the darkness still hung heavy even though the balance had tipped to begin the gradual transition to light. That period where forms, including the shape of one another, were ill defined, simply outlines. Gail could feel Holly’s trembling subsiding.

‘Did you dream Trump was elected US President?’ Gail said, ’oh hang on, wait he was.’ 

The wisecrack earned a half-hearted laugh from Holly.

‘Bad joke?’

‘Bad joke,’ Holly agreed.

‘Your nightmare was about me, wasn’t it?’ Gail said, turning serious.

Holly nodded.

‘I’m sorry,’ Gail said softly, knowing all too well from her own nightmares what horrors may have visited Holly.

Holly tightened her hold on Gail’s waist, squeezing her fiercely.

‘It’s not your fault,’ she finally said, her voice subdued, small and sad. 

Gail brushed her lips against the top of Holly’s head. 

Holly titled her head upwards and, despite the dark, found Gail’s mouth immediately. Gail had thought she wanted just a gentle kiss, a brief reassurance, so she drew back quickly but Holly had other ideas. She placed her hand on the back of Gail’s head and pulled her back in and this time the kiss was longer, insistent.

Gail knew that sometimes when Holly was afraid for her she wanted this – a physical connection which in that moment made Gail, made them tangible, unassailable. 

Before long Gail was pushing Holly’s sleep top up and over her head, and then pulling off her own t-shirt. Gail ran her hand across Holly’s stomach and down to the band of her boy shorts and then cupped Holly’s center making Holly arch up into her hand. She found Holly’s clit through the material of the boy shorts, and pressed with two fingers, using the friction of the material to some effect judging from Holly’s response. Gail placed her other hand on one of Holly’s breasts, caressing it and then rolling the nipple between her thumb and forefinger. Holly gave a sharp intake of breath and kissed her harder. 

Gail would have liked nothing more than to take Holly’s nipple between her lips, graze her teeth against it and soothe it with her tongue and then give Holly’s other breast the same treatment. After that she’d use her mouth and tongue to trace a path down Holly’s body. But she sensed Holly needed her here with her, face to face. 

So Gail pulled the boy shorts down Holly’s long, long legs and over her ankles. It was Holly who shifted then so Gail’s thigh fell between her legs and she began to push against it. Gail felt Holly’s arousal wet and slick on her leg. She moved slightly to the side and placed her hand on Holly’s center, running her fingers down through her folds and then pushing two just inside Holly. Then she brought those fingers to her mouth and sucked them slowly, wantonly, the taste of Holly making her smile.

Holly moaned and jerked her hips upwards, and Gail sensed this was partly a response to her actions and part protest against the removal of her hand. So Gail moved her fingers back to Holly’s clit. She started slow at first, a circular motion with one finger and then a second, but as Holly’s breathing quickened, she applied more pressure, the two fingers now working in an alternate up and down movement Gail knew Holly liked.

Gail dipped her head to kiss Holly again. Beginning with little nips, then she pulled at Holly’s bottom lip and finally tangled her tongue with Holly’s. All these sensations - the kissing, the feel of Holly naked pressed against her, her clit hard beneath Gail’s fingertips, Holly’s gathering excitement and the breathy sounds she made - caused Gail’s own arousal to build and she felt a wetness between her own legs. As Holly’s breath became more ragged, Gail increased her pace. 

‘I want you inside me,’ Holly said, and Gail complied, moving her hand to Holly’s entrance. She pushed two and then three fingers in, and placed her thumb on Holly’s clit, resuming the rhythm of before.

Gail could feel Holly’s walls tightening around her fingers. Then Holly abruptly broke off the kiss, and was calling out Gail’s name and arcing her back, one arm now across Gail’s shoulders drawing her close and her other hand clutching the sheets. Gail curled her fingers upwards and Holly gave a final cry and pulled Gail into a fierce embrace. After a moment Gail could feel Holly smiling against her. 

‘I needed that,’ Holly finally said, ‘I needed something good about us to erase,’ she broke off.

‘Yeah,’ Gail nodded, understanding what Holly was saying, ‘I’m sorry.’

‘For what?’

‘For making you afraid for me’

‘It’s not your fault,’ Holly said for the second time that night.

But that old fear resurfaced for Gail. That one day it would become too much for Holly to live with that constant fear Gail might be hurt or worse. That no matter how much she loved Gail, in fact because she loved Gail so much, Holly would have to walk away.

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ Holly said when Gail didn’t speak.

‘How did you – I mean I didn’t say anything.’

Holly took one of Gail’s hands and linked their fingers together.

‘It was kinda obvious what was going on in your head,’ she shrugged.

‘Oh,’ was Gail’s reply.

‘And your job does scare me sometimes and I do worry about you, but I accept this is what it means to love a police officer.’

‘You wouldn’t rather I worked in a, I dunno, a bakery?’

Holly pretended to consider for a moment.

‘Nah. You wouldn’t last a single day because you’d eat more products than you'd sell,’ she teased, ‘especially the donuts.’

‘Hey,’ Gail mock protested, giving Holly a light shove.

‘I like you just the way you are,’ Holly said, snuggling back into Gail, and yawning. ‘I wouldn’t change a thing about you.’

Gail wrapped her arms around Holly and kissed her lightly on the lips. She felt Holly’s body becoming heavy, shifting from wakefulness to that relaxed pre-sleep state. Holly had told her it was called hypnagogia. Of course she would know, the nerd, Gail thought fondly.

‘Don’t let me fall asleep,’ Holly mumbled, ‘It’s your turn.’ 

‘Shh,’ Gail said, ‘sleep now. You can return the favor another time.’

As Holly began to drift off, Gail thought about how in her previous relationships people wanted to change her but not Holly. It was liberating and extraordinary and made Gail want to do cartwheels or something. Maybe shout from a rooftop. Cartwheels weren’t really her thing. 

To be accepted and loved for who she was, well that was something she’d never dared hoped for but always wanted. And Holly knew her. Gail didn’t hide anything from Holly, didn’t try to be someone she wasn’t or disguise some of her less endearing traits and still Holly loved her. In fact the snark and the attitude and the sometimes prickliness just amused Holly. Well, most of the time.

Holly shifted slightly in Gail’s arm, burrowing into her. ‘You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Gail,’ she breathed, as if she had actually heard what Gail was thinking. 

Gail smiled wide and happy.

‘You just say that because no one’s ever made you come like I do,’ Gail teased, as much to distract herself as to divert Holly’s attention from how Holly’s declaration made her literally burst with joy.

‘Smug much,’ Holly said yawning.

‘I give you the best orgasms. Say it isn’t true.’

‘I could say it but then,’ Holly paused, ‘I’d be lying.’

Gail smiled again and pulled Holly closer. ‘I love you,’ she said.

‘I love you too,’ Holly said sleepily, but she tightened her grip on Gail. 

Just over an hour later, Gail was woken by her phone ringing. Holly stirred beside her. When Gail answered the call, it took her a moment to register what Elaine was saying. 

‘Graham Fielding’s been killed. I need you and Holly at the scene,’ she said.


	32. Thirty-two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the reviews, kudos, subscriptions and bookmarks. Let me know what you think of this chapter - I always love to get feedback!
> 
> And of course I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters and the mistakes are unfortunately all my own doing.
> 
> ...............................................................................................................................................................................

The address Elaine gave Gail was for a disused warehouse down near the docks. As they drew up to the building, Gail and Holly could see two squad cars with lights flashing, a vehicle with a roof light with ‘SECURITY’ written in bold blue letters and two unmarked cars, one of which Gail knew belonged to Elaine.

On the drive over, Holly had asked if this meant Gail was being pulled off the investigation into Caitlin’s disappearance.

‘You can’t work two cases, can you?’ Holly said hopefully, ‘I mean, it would make sense to hand it over to Missing Persons. Especially now O’Leary’s threatened you.’ 

‘Who knows,’ Gail laughed mirthlessly, ‘nothing my mother does makes much sense, except perhaps to her. Maybe she thinks Fielding’s death is connected to Caitlin’s disappearance.’

‘I thought you said it was unlikely he snatched her.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail said, then hesitated before speaking again. ‘Holly, we need to be careful.’

‘Can’t something be done about O’Leary if he’s made threats against you?’ Holly broke in.

‘It’s not him I’m worried about,’ Gail said heavily, ‘it’s Elaine. She seems determined to use this case to get O’Leary. To the point of irrationality.’

‘To the point of endangering you,’ Holly said.

‘Yeah, well,’ Gail shrugged, as she parked behind one of the unmarked cars. ‘I think we both need to be cautious around her. She’s already asked you to do something unethical.’

It hurt that Gail had to be so guarded around her mother, couldn’t trust her in fact. It was very different to Holly’s relationship with her mother Becca. She didn’t interfere and was anything but suffocating, but Becca was always there for Holly and her brother. Growing up the world she created for them was warm and nurturing and full of love. 

If Holly had to fault her mother it was her tendency to be fiercely protective if anyone hurt her children, even as adults. Actually Holly regretted confiding in her mother the first time she and Gail split. Becca had not been well disposed to someone who had so clearly broken Holly’s heart and her reaction when Holly told her she and Gail were back together was circumspect at best. It was typical though. Becca’s first instinct was to shield the people she loved. It occurred to Holly that in her own twisted way this might be what Elaine was doing. Taking care of Gail, as well as Steve. It was messed up yes, because of course she had put Gail this situation. 

‘Maybe Elaine thinks she’s protecting you,’ Holly said.

Gail twisted her mouth in doubt. That hurt even more. How was it that Elaine kept making Gail feel so worthless? Was Elaine even aware of the effect her actions had on Gail or had it just become habitual to treat Gail as second best.

‘We should go in. I’ll get your lunchbox out of the trunk,’ Gail said, unbuckling her seat belt.

‘Forensic kit,’ Holly said in what was becoming a well-worn routine. So much so the repetition had become the joke, rather than the gag itself.

Gail forced a small smile.

‘Wait,’ Holly placed a hand on Gail’s forearm making Gail stop and turn to face her. Inclining her head to one side, Holly gave that lop-sided smile Gail maintained would make her do anything for Holly.

‘You are loved and cherished and not just by me,’ Holly said, ‘but by me most of all.’

‘You know until this I believed my mother was maybe trying to make amends,’ Gail said, ‘it’s like we’ve come a long way but not very far at all. And I thought I’d gotten over this. That I’d moved beyond caring what my mother thinks of me or if she even bothers to think of me.’ 

Gail’s voice was flat and Holly could tell she was trying hard not to sound despondent. It was true. The efforts Elaine had made to reconnect had just given Gail hope, Holly realized. Would it have been better if Elaine had kept her distance or if Gail had kept those walls up and hadn’t allowed herself any expectations? The ironic thing was Gail had been trying hard to be open and it was working and Holly felt this less defensive, this more trusting Gail was happier and more settled in herself.

‘Oh honey,’ Holly said, taking Gail’s hand, ‘maybe your mother is doing the best she can, given who she is. Maybe it will take time.’

Gail nodded wearily. 

‘It’s okay to expect more of your mother and it’s okay to be hurt when she lets you down.’

Gail didn’t say anything. Instead she leant across the center console and kissed Holly. Just a quick kiss but enough to show how much Holly’s support meant.

‘You know we should have stayed in Antigua,’ Gail said when the kiss ended.

‘Yep’ Holly agreed, popping the ‘p’ like Gail normally did.

The warehouse was an old brick building, covered in graffiti, its windows bordered with plywood. Two uniforms where standing by the entrance.

‘Detective Peck, Doctor Stewart,’ one of them, an officer called Glassnor, said as Gail and Holly approached. ‘You should be prepared. It’s not a pretty sight,’ he added with a grimace.

‘Yeah,’ Gail nodded.

‘The security guard who found him puked,’ Glassnor said, standing aside to let them enter the building, ‘and I’ll tell you I had trouble keeping down my dinner and I’m not known for my weak stomach.’

Once inside, Holly could see a rudimentary office had been partitioned off on one side of the room, probably long after the warehouse was built which she guessed was sometime in the early 1800s. At some point a fire had been lit in the center of the room, leaving the floor charred in a freakishly concentric circle. A bundle of discarded bedding in one corner suggested the homeless used the warehouse as a place to crash.

Elaine and Traci were standing in front of the office door, and Frankie was over to one side speaking quietly to the security guard. 

‘Good, you’ve arrived,’ Elaine said by way of greeting, ‘the body is through here.’

The Superintendent indicated Gail and Holly should follow her into the office, but then abruptly stopped at the door so the two women almost ran into her.

‘I need to warn you,’ Elaine said, turning to face them, ‘it’s gruesome.’

The first thing that struck Holly as she entered the room was the naked light bulb hanging from the ceiling. It was flickering intermittently, so the space was filled with uncertain shadows. Without warning Holly was assailed by an image from her nightmare where Gail was tied to a chair beneath a swinging light bulb. It was just a flash, but enough to seem momentarily real. 

Next Holly was struck by the smell of blood, metallic and with that cloying sweetness. When Elaine stepped to one side, she understood why the smell was so overpowering.

Holly had seen her fair share of bodies, and in various stages of decomposition and some of them bearing the marks of the most monstrous brutality. In fact one of her professors had worried Holly was too compassionate to become a forensic pathologist. But she had schooled herself not to react, to concentrate on the science and not the horror. It wasn’t that she had inured herself or that she didn’t care. The body bore witness to a crime and Holly knew how to read the telltale signs and she believed it was up to her to be a voice for the victim, to see justice was done.

Now though, looking at Graham Fielding’s body, Holly felt the bile rise in her throat. She glanced sideways to see how Gail was reacting. At Elaine’s insistence, Gail had attended her first autopsies as a teenager and so now when confronted with a body she never flinched, or displayed much emotion at all Holly realized. Here in this room Holly saw Gail blanch, and her mouth set in a grim line.

Graham Fielding was tied to a chair. Most of his fingers were severed, his throat was slashed, but even from a glance Holly could tell the cut wasn’t deep and his death would have been agonizingly slow. His shirtsleeves were sliced to ribbons and stained red from the blood, which had seeped from a series of gashes up and down his arms. He’d been stabbed in the stomach over and over, and blood covered his shirtfront. His face was beaten nearly to a pulp, so much so he was unrecognizable.

‘How did you know it’s Fielding?’ Holly asked.

‘His wallet. The uniforms found it in his coat, which was discarded by the door,’ Elaine said.

‘So the killer or killers didn’t care we’d id the victim straight away.’

‘It would seem not,’ Elaine agreed.

‘O’Leary did this,’ Gail said, indicating Fielding’s severed fingers, ‘how did he know?’ 

Gail’s voice was quiet but Holly detected a flintiness in her tone.

‘Know what?’ Elaine asked as if puzzled by the question, although Holly saw her eyes dart to the left.

‘Know we’d pulled Fielding in over Caitlin’s disappearance.’

‘That’s speculation, Detective Peck,’ Elaine started.

‘Who interviewed the dealer,’ Gail interrupted, ‘was anything said about Fielding being a suspect?’

‘Detective Anderson and I spoke to Marty Finnegan and we said nothing about why Fielding needed an alibi, even though Marty asked,’ Elaine said, ‘he must have figured it out. He knew Fielding had served time for abusing children.’

‘Did he directly ask you if Fielding was being held in connection with Caitlin’s disappearance?’

‘Well, as it happens, yes,’ Elaine said.

‘And what did you say?’

‘I said,’ Elaine began.

‘You said,’ Frankie said from the doorway, and Holly wondered how long she’d been there listening, ‘you said we weren’t at liberty to discuss an ongoing investigation.’

For a moment Gail looked relieved. Holly speculated whether it was because her mother couldn’t be implicated in Fielding’s death.

‘But then,’ Frankie continued, ‘the Superintendent asked if Marty had any reason to believe Fielding would take Caitlin, and if he had ever seen Fielding and Caitlin together or if Fielding had ever spoken about Caitlin.’ 

It was clear from the tone in her voice Frankie wasn’t happy about this. 

‘Fuck,’ Gail exhaled, ‘you may as well as handed Fielding over to O’Leary.’

‘It was a reasonable line of questioning,’ Elaine said, standing taller, pushing her shoulders back and seeming to puff herself up in a way that was somehow both defensive and truculent. 

‘Not when we’re dealing with someone as volatile as O’Leary,’ Gail said adamantly, ‘if Fielding’s alibi checked out there was no need to pursue it.’

‘I do not appreciate you questioning my judgment Detective. I was simply being thorough.’

Holly felt certain if it were possible for Elaine to literally bristle, the Superintendent would be covered in spikes.

‘Now,’ Elaine continued briskly, ‘I think we should allow Dr Stewart to examine the body.’

‘I’m waiting on Dr Karlowski and a lab tech. I won’t start until they get here,’ Holly said.

‘Initial impressions?’ Elaine barked rather than asked.

‘Clearly a frenzied attack. You can tell from the repeated blows to the head and the number of stab wounds to the victim’s torso. The knife was plunged in over and over again. Whoever did that was in a rage.’

‘Yet the cuts to the arms, the severing of the fingers look more like torture, like something done methodically,’ Gail said.

‘It’s possible we’re looking at more than one perpetrator.’ 

‘So O’Leary’s men could have brought Fielding here – roughed him up, tortured him, then O’Leary had a go and his is the frenzied attack.’

‘It’s possible,’ Holly said slowly, ‘but we’ll-‘

‘Know more once you do the autopsy,’ Gail finished for Holly, with a wry smile.

Holly nodded.

‘Well, Detectives Peck and Nash, there is no time to waste. I want you to interview O’Leary. Take him to the station. I want him out of his comfort zone,’ Elaine said.

Was Elaine insane, Holly wondered? If this was an example of what O’Leary was capable of, how could Elaine even for a moment contemplate sending Gail to interview him.

‘No,’ Gail replied.

‘No,’ Elaine arched an eyebrow in disbelief, ‘what do you mean no?’

‘Detective Nash and I were assigned to liaise with the O’Leary’s over the disappearance of Caitlin. Until she’s found that’s our job. We owe it to the O’Leary’s, to Caitlin especially, to give that investigation our full attention, regardless of whether O’Leary did this.’ 

Elaine started to demur but Gail spoke over the top of her.

‘Detectives Anderson and Price should conduct the interview. Detective Nash and I need to speak to Macy again.’

‘Detective,’ Elaine said, the air of weary forbearance she affected doing little to disguise her annoyance. In fact if anything magnifying it, something Holly was sure the Superintendent knew. 

‘Yes,’ Gail said, looking her mother straight in the eye, unflinching, her back suddenly straighter, her expression resolute.

‘Very well,’ Elaine said stiffly, ‘you may have a point.’ 

The Superintendent gave the impression she was grudgingly conceding to Gail, and yet Holly saw something else in her expression she couldn’t quite place. Was it relief, but also pride? Even if Gail couldn’t see it, below the brittleness Elaine cared about her daughter. It was buried there beneath layers and layers of dissonance and friction, the constant push and pull that characterized her relationship with Gail. 

The Superintendent's shrewdness was legendary, it was certainly one of the reasons she'd had such a meteoric rise through police ranks, and yet she couldn't read her own daughter. Judgmental, hypercritical, Elaine was frequently disparaging and not just with Gail. At the same time she was smart, logical and meticulous - qualities Gail had inherited in spades. There was no denying it. Elaine was a complex woman and even Holly, who was aware of the damage done to Gail by the paradox that was Elaine, had to admit it made her hard to dislike, at least completely.

There was a slight commotion at the door as Rodney and the tech arrived. Holly noticed them both do a double take when they saw Fielding and then quickly compose their features. She knew from experience that no matter how many bodies she and her colleagues were exposed to, no matter how many times they witnessed the worst, every victim who bore the signs of suffering registered, made them pause, left an indelible mark.

Holly motioned the two men in, and then turned to Elaine.

‘You should check O’Leary’s hands. From the injuries to Fielding’s face, it looks like he was pummeled over and over by someone using their fists. Whoever did this will have bruised and swollen hands. If we’re lucky he grazed his hands and left behind DNA. People tend to get careless when they are full of rage.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 

Gail left her car for Holly to take back to the morgue, so Traci drove to Macy’s house. As soon as they were in the car, Traci turned to Gail.

‘Aside from Chloe, you’re the most junior detective on this case, so what just happened back there?’ Traci asked.

‘My mother overreached.’

‘Sorry Gail but that’s not much of an explanation.’

Gail sighed.

‘Can you promise not to repeat anything I’m about to tell you,’ she said, wincing at how dramatic that sounded.

‘Ah, I can’t make that promise,’ Traci wrinkled her brow, ‘not when I don’t know what you’re about to say. How do I know,’ she abruptly stopped speaking.

‘If I’m about to implicate you in something illegal or in some sort of cover-up,’ Gail sighed again, ‘especially when a Peck asks you to keep a secret.’

‘Oh, Gail,’ Traci began, her voice full of sympathy.

‘No, it’s okay. I understand. Trust and Pecks are exactly synonymous. And you’ve been burned by my brother,’ Gail made a rueful face. ‘I don’t think my mother’s done anything illegal but if she has then I’ll report her myself.’

‘Okay,’ Traci said quietly. She marveled at how calm Gail could be about this. If Traci suspected her mother of breaking the law and felt she had to turn her in, well, it would break her heart. She certainly wouldn’t be sitting here talking so dispassionately about it. But then Gail’s relationship with her mother had always been tumultuous. Elaine had harangued and browbeaten Gail into, well not submission Traci knew that, but a kind of mute rebellion more suited to a sullen teenager than a respected police officer. 

Until now Traci always felt Gail was too passive around Elaine, although there was no denying the woman was formidable. How did anyone deal with a mother like that? Elaine had been soft on Steve though and Traci couldn’t help think it was one of the reasons he’d ended up corrupt. Turned out Steve Peck had no backbone, which wasn’t something you could say about Gail.

‘I think, no I know she saw this case as an opportunity to get O’Leary off Steve’s back,’ Gail said after a moment, ‘she asked Holly to see if Caitlin’s DNA matched DNA taken from two cold cases where O’Leary was the prime suspect.’

‘What’s wrong with asking Holly to do that?’ Traci looked puzzled.

‘Elaine wanted Holly to do it discreetly. No record of the tests in the system.’

‘But why,’ Traci began but then her eyes widened in understanding, ‘you think she wanted to use the information to blackmail O’Leary to back off.’

Gail nodded. ‘Elaine denied it when I asked. She claimed O’Leary had threatened me as well and she told Holly that’s why she thought it best to carry out the tests quietly. Only go after O’Leary if there was a match. Holly wouldn’t do it, of course.’

‘I guess Elaine’s explanation is plausible,’ Traci said.

‘Yeah, but she assigned me to liaise with the O’Leary’s to stir things up. It’s the very opposite of discrete.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Elaine doesn’t like it if you mess with the Pecks and she certainly wasn’t happy O’Leary had Steve bashed in prison. It was one of her classic power plays - sending me in when O’Leary’s distraught about his missing daughter. She hoped it would disconcert him, make him do something rash or careless we could use against him. At the very least she wanted to show him we Pecks won’t be intimidated.’

‘No wonder she took control of this investigation.’

‘Yep,’ Gail grimaced.

‘Neither you nor Elaine should have been anywhere near this case. I’m surprised the Staff Superintendent agreed.’

‘Yeah, well it seems she’s clawed her way back to power and influence in the force.’

‘Hmm. Still Elaine hasn’t done anything illegal. Questionable yes, but not illegal.’

Gail nodded. ‘Anything for Steve,’ she said resignedly.

‘You don’t think she’s also trying to protect you?’

‘That’s what Holly suggested.’

‘Smart woman, your girlfriend,’ Traci said, and Gail couldn’t help smiling at that. ‘Holly said Elaine was trying to make things better with you.’

‘In her weird Elaine way,’ Gail said, ‘but maybe she’s just trying to make me a good little Peck. I mean with Steve off the force, she’s got no choice but to focus all her ambitions on me.’

‘You think that’s what she’s doing?’

‘Hard to know,’ Gail blew out a breath, ‘even when Elaine does something nice I always feel like I’ll pay for it later.’

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Elaine Peck clapped her hands together.

‘We’ve got him,’ she said.

‘Looks like it,’ Dov agreed, pressing rewind on the surveillance footage.

The security guard had told them the warehouse was slated for redevelopment into boutique apartments. It had stood empty for over a year and there had been trouble with squatters, which was why his firm was contracted to patrol the building. After a group the guard described as ‘meth heads’ were evicted the previous week, a security camera was installed outside the front and back entrances to the building. 

‘O’Leary obviously didn’t know about the cameras,’ Elaine said as she watched two men drag Fielding through the back entrance. Dov forwarded the video and there was O’Leary striding up the loading dock. He even looked directly at the camera. ‘You would have thought he’d check.’

‘What does Gail say? Criminals are idiots and losers.’

Elaine laughed in a way Dov could only describe as fond. It took him by surprise.

‘Not O’Leary though,’ she said, ‘he has rat cunning. He wouldn’t normally miss something like this.’

‘Maybe they’ve used the building before. Scoped it out before the cameras were installed and assumed it was safe.’

‘If that’s the case, he is an idiot. O’Leary slipped up. You know Dr Stewart said rage makes people careless. I think in this case it was grief,’ Elaine said coolly.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It was 6.45am when Gail and Traci knocked on the Harris’ door. If Paula Harris was surprised to see the detectives she didn’t show it.

‘I was about to call you,’ Paula said. She was wearing sweats and looked as if she was not long up. 

‘You were?’ Gail asked, surprised.

‘Macy had a rough night. This morning, well this morning she told me something I think you need to hear. I mean it may not have anything to do with the investigation but,’ Paula left the rest of the sentence hanging. ‘She’s in the kitchen with her father. Do you want to come through?’

Traci and Gail nodded.

Macy looked up warily as they came into the kitchen. She was still in her pajamas and had dark circles under her eyes. Gail recognized the unsettled look in her eyes. How many times after a fractured night’s sleep had Gail looked in the mirror and seen that very same uncertainty reflected back at her. Jordan Harris stood up from the table and gravely shook Traci and Gail’s hands. 

‘I told Macy you wouldn’t be angry with her for not telling you,’ he said.

‘Of course not,’ Gail said gently, giving the little girl a reassuring smile, ‘we just want to find Caitlin.’

Macy nodded somberly and reached for her father’s hand, and Jordan sat back down, placing a protective arm around her shoulders.

‘It’s okay honey,’ he soothed, ‘just tell the detectives what you told Mom and me.’

‘There’s a place. An abandoned house near the school. On Caldicott Street. It’s all over grown and the yard is full of junk and we went there exploring. Caitlin made me swear not to tell. She said we’d be in big trouble and her dad would never let us see each other ever again if I told.’

‘I think Caitlin and her dad would want you to tell us now,’ Gail said softly, ‘do you remember what day it was?’

‘On Monday.’

Gail nodded. The same day Fielding said he spoke to the girls on Caldicott Street.

‘Did you talk to anyone on your way there?’

‘A man. My bike chain fell off. He helped me fix it. He was weird at first. He wouldn’t talk to us. Then he was nice.’

‘Did he ask you anything? Like your names or where you lived?’

‘No. He just fixed the bike and said he had to go.’

Gail nodded. ‘So did you go inside the house?’

Macy shook her head. ‘No, but there was a trapdoor in the ground. In the yard out back. We tried to open it. Caitlin said she’d get a crowbar from home and we could come back and open it.’

‘And did you go back?’

‘No, but at recess on Wednesday Caitlin told me she had a crowbar and said we could go there after school. But I had to go to the dentist so we decided to go the next day.’

‘Macy, if it’s alright with your parents can you show us where this house is?’

Macy nodded.

When Macy went upstairs with her mother to change out of her pajamas, Jordon Harris turned to Gail and Traci.

‘O’Leary threatened Macy too,’ he said heavily, ‘I didn’t know until she told us this morning. It was when she and Caitlin began riding to school together. O’Leary told Macy if she let Caitlin do anything stupid she’d never be allowed to play with her again. She said he gripped her chin hard and made her afraid, and then he said if she told anyone what he’d said, he wouldn’t let her see Caitlin again.’

‘He intimidated a ten year old,’ Traci said in disbelief.

Jordon nodded.

Jesus, Gail thought, it sounded like O’Leary had treated Macy like he would a gang rival or someone he wanted to strong-arm. Did he know no other way to behave except like a thug? She just hoped his thuggery hadn’t cost him his daughter.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Can you explain why your hands are bruised and swollen?’ Frankie asked. 

O’Leary regarded her with hostility and then shrugged indifferently. He was cuffed to the table in the interview room but still he jutted out his jaw belligerently as if he should be running the show not Frankie. His lawyer, a man named Ray Castle, was seated beside him. From the expensive cut of his suit and his freshly manicured nails and fashionable haircut, Castle was doing well out of working for O’Leary, Frankie surmised. In spite of his well-groomed appearance, there was still something of the used car salesman about him.

‘Looks like you’ve gone a few rounds with someone,’ Frankie said.

‘Boxing practice,’ O’Leary grunted.

‘Boxing practice,’ Frankie raised an eyebrow, ‘you don’t use gloves?’

‘Gloves are for pussies.’

‘Yeah?’ Frankie paused, ‘are punching bags for pussies too?’

‘What d’ya mean?’

‘Did you use Graham Fielding as a punching bag?’

‘Don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Mr O’Leary surveillance footage puts you in the warehouse where Graham Fielding’s body was found and at the time he was estimated to have died.’

‘I had nothing to do with his death. I don’t even know who this guy is.’

There was a tap on the door and Elaine Peck entered the room and without a word handed Frankie a piece of paper and then left. Frankie read the message and passed it to Chloe.

‘Mr O’Leary, your DNA was found on the victim, Graham Fielding,’ Chloe said firmly but quietly, her manner a marked contrast to Frankie’s.

‘What? No way. You’re bluffing. I haven’t given you a DNA sample.’ 

‘No but your daughter has. There’s a familial match,’ Frankie said, finding it hard to keep the note of triumph out of her voice.

Even as she began to speak, Frankie saw the realization dawning on O’Leary. He’d slipped up. After all these years of evading the law, of carefully covering his tracks so it was impossible to trace anything back to him, O’Leary had slipped up. Frankie could tell he wasn’t used to being caught out or ceding control to anyone. For the briefest of moments his expression betrayed him, shifting from a mix of panic and astonishment to outrage before he bought it under control. 

‘You tell Superintendent Peck she’s making a big mistake. One she’s going to regret,’ O’Leary said coolly, looking at Frankie defiantly, ‘she and blondie.’

‘Are you threatening two police officers?’ Frankie’s eyes narrowed.

‘Detective Anderson,’ Castle spoke up, ‘I’d like a word with my client. I want this interview terminated until I can confer with him.’

Frankie nodded, her face hard. ‘Ten minutes. That’s all you’ve got Castle.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

When they arrived at the abandoned house, Chris, Andy, Robinson and Moore were waiting. Traci had phoned Oliver and asked for two patrol cars. Chris was holding a crowbar and a sledgehammer. Traci grabbed two flashlights from her car.

Macy led them round to the back yard. It hadn’t been mown for many months and the long grass nearly dwarfed the little girl. The trapdoor, as Macy called it, was beneath a rambling overgrown bush. One of the metal doors was open. It was thick and heavy and very rusty and Gail imagined Caitlin would have had trouble lifting it. When Gail peered down all she could see was blackness. Was it some kind of cellar or could it be a bomb shelter, she wondered.

‘The trapdoor wasn’t open when you and Caitlin where here on Monday?’ Gail asked Macy gently.

Macy shook her head.

‘Okay,’ Gail said, ‘Robinson and Moore can you take Macy and her parents home.’

‘I want to stay,’ Macy said, her voice small but determined, ‘I want to see if you find Caitlin.’

Gail knelt down so she was at Macy’s level. There was no way they could let Macy stay. If Caitlin was down there, the chances were she wouldn’t be alive.

‘Macy, I promise if we find Caitlin we’ll tell you straight away. We don’t even know if Caitlin went in there,’ Gail pointed to the hatchway, ‘but I’m going to go down and take a look, but while I do that it would really help if you waited with your mom and dad at home. Can you do that for me?’

Macy nodded, the slightest tremble in her lips.

‘Hey,’ Gail said softly, ‘you’ve been really brave Macy and really helpful. I just need you to be brave for a bit longer.’

Macy nodded again and threw her arms around Gail, whispering ‘Please find Caitlin, please find Caitlin.’

Gail hugged her back, saying, ‘I promise I’ll do my best.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Frankie and Chloe were on their way back into the interview room when Elaine stopped them.

‘Detective Peck has found Caitlin,’ she said.

‘Should we tell O’Leary,’ Frankie asked.

‘No. Detective Peck can do that. Let him stew until she gets here,’ Elaine said, ‘then you can charge him with Fielding’s murder. This is one O’Leary’s not going to wriggle out of.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

O’Leary was alone when Gail came into interrogation room. A good hour had passed since Frankie and Chloe had suspended the interview and Castle had become impatient and gone in search of them.

‘What are you doing here,’ O’Leary said as Gail sat down opposite him.

‘We’ve found Caitlin,’ Gail replied quietly, ‘she’s alive and she’s going to be okay. Maree’s at the hospital with her now.’

‘I need to be with her,’ O’Leary started to rise out of his chair but was prevented from standing by the cuffs. ‘What happened? When can I see Caitlin?’ he said, slumping back into the chair. 

‘Caitlin discovered a disused fallout shelter in the back yard of an abandoned house. It was probably built in the 1960s. It was about ten feet underground and when Caitlin was climbing down the ladder she slipped and fell. She was semi-conscious when we found her and she’d broken her ankle, but the hospital checked her out and she’s going to be okay. No neurological damage and the ankle will heal.’

‘You need to get me out of here,’ O’Leary said urgently.

‘I can’t,’ Gail said, ‘you’re about to be charged with Fielding’s murder.’

‘Argh,’ O’Leary cried out in frustration, yanking his wrists against the cuffs, ‘god that was a mistake.’

‘What do you mean?

‘Marty Finnegan told me the police knew Fielding had taken Caitlin but couldn’t prove anything. I just wanted information, I just wanted my little girl back or at least know what had happened to her but he wouldn’t tell me anything. He kept denying he’d hurt Caitlin and then,’ O’Leary stopped, as if suddenly aware of what he was about to admit.

‘And then you got carried away,’ Gail said softly.

‘O’Leary nodded. ‘Yes, but if that bitch detective who was in here before asks, I’ll deny it. I’m not confessing to this.’

‘I don’t think that will matter. The evidence against you is too damming.’

‘You and your mother need to make this charge go away.’

‘And why would we do that?’ Gail screwed up her face.

‘I know where Steve lives. I know he’s in Calgary. If you don’t make this disappear, he’s a dead man.’

‘Mr O’Leary, Steve left Calgary an hour ago. Superintendent Peck thought you might threaten him next. Unfortunately for you, my mother and I aren’t the kind of Pecks who can be blackmailed or who take bribes. Once Detective Anderson has formally charged you, your lawyer can make inquiries about seeing Caitlin.’ 

With that Gail stood. As she reached the door, O’Leary spoke again.

‘Why do you care about Fielding? He was a pervert. I’ve done society a favor.’

Gail turned and regarded O’Leary for a moment before she replied.

‘It’s not my job and it’s certainly not up to you to play judge and jury. Fielding served his time. He was trying to rehabilitate. No matter how repugnant his crimes, it’s not up to you or me to decide what his life was worth.’

Without waiting for a response, she left the room.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Holly was finalizing the report on Fielding’s autopsy when Elaine walked into her office unannounced. It was late and Holly had sent her assistant Sally home. As Holly looked up she noticed there was something tentative about the way Elaine hovered by the door, which was quite of character for the Superintendent who normally strode through life with a kind of brisk certitude.

‘I owe you an apology,’ Elaine said, the words coming out in a rush. 

Of course, Holly thought, Peck’s weren’t supposed to admit they were ever wrong. Saying sorry always took considerable effort. Gail, at least, was getting better at it, no longer saw it as a sign of weakness or of failure.

‘I should never have asked you to do those tests on the quiet,’ Elaine continued, ‘but you have to believe my intentions were good.’

‘Good?’ Holly said doubtfully.

‘O’Leary was going to go after Gail. I didn’t make that up. I needed some leverage to keep her safe.’

‘Keep her safe,’ Holly knew her voice was rising, ‘keep her safe. How was putting her on this case keeping her safe?’

‘I know. I miscalculated. I didn’t have all the information.’

‘Didn’t have all the information,’ Holly echoed incredulously, ‘what do you mean?’

‘When Steve went to prison he had enough on O’Leary to put him away but he didn’t. He just gave evidence against some other gang members, most of them low in the pecking order and dispensable to O’Leary.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘O’Leary said if Steve gave him up, he’d send some of his men after Gail. Let them do what ever they liked with her before killing her.’

Holly sucked in a breath.

‘That’s why Steve didn’t turn him in. He did it to protect Gail,’ Elaine said, ‘if Steve had handed over O’Leary chances are he would have avoided jail time.’

‘So knowing that why did you put Gail on this investigation?’ Holly asked

‘I wasn’t aware O’Leary had made that threat. I would never have put Gail on the investigation otherwise. Steve only told me after I’d sent Gail and Traci to O’Leary’s house. If it helps, Steve was livid with me.’

Holly scrunched up her face. She wasn’t sure what to make of Elaine’s explanation, but Steve’s anger was no consolation. 

‘I admit I was arrogant,’ Elaine continued, ‘I wanted to show O’Leary the Pecks wouldn’t be cowered by him. I was hopeful too that in the course of the investigation we might find something on him, something to put him away so Steve would be safe.’

Holly sighed loudly and gripped the desk in front of her. She could feel the rage not so much building but like a flash of white heat. It was as if someone had flicked a switch. She knew she needed to count to ten and take a breath before responding, otherwise she couldn’t trust what she might say or do. 

So Holly concentrated on identifying the physiology of her anger, knowing she could remain cool-headed and rational if she focused on the science. It wouldn't take long to calm down, she knew that. According to some studies, the neurological response to anger could last less than two seconds, even if it felt considerably longer than that. As with the flight or fight response, time seemed to elongate while you decided how to act. 

Adrenaline and noradrenaline would be coursing thorough her body, and no doubt her amygdala was going crazy, wanting to lash out, to erupt in a vicious wave of retribution. Fortunately the blood flow to her frontal lobe, the part of the brain controlling reason, would be increasing, balancing out the amygdala meltdown, and stopping her from hurling something at Elaine or worse. 

‘It’s always Steve. You have never put Gail first,’ Holly finally said, feeling bitter now rather than angry, ‘You have this brilliant, caring daughter who is decent and good and would never do anything corrupt, wouldn’t even contemplate it, not even for a moment, and you never make her feel anything but a failure. Never praise her. Never make her feel loved or valued. I just don’t understand you Elaine.’

‘I,’ Elaine faltered, ‘I’m trying to do better. We thought being tough on Gail was for the best. Gail is smart, so smart in fact she worked out she could get away with being lazy, with not trying very hard and still get by. I didn’t want her to just get by, to be mediocre when she could be so much more.’

‘Gail is not that person anymore, Elaine,’ Holly said, ‘have you ever thought tough love is what made her stop trying. Maybe Gail felt like she could never live up to your expectations.’

‘Still look at the person Gail has become’ Elaine began but Holly cut across her.

‘You don’t think she might have become that person sooner had you nurtured her instead.’

‘Hindsight always makes us wiser,’ Elaine sighed, ‘in some ways I feel like I’m just beginning to figure Gail out and that,’ Elaine held up her hands as Holly started to interrupt, ‘is entirely my fault. I misjudged her. But Holly, I love my daughter. I never meant to hurt her and when I asked you to do those tests it was to protect Gail not Steve. If O’Leary had somehow found out I was going after him, I knew he’d go after Gail. I needed to be sure of the evidence before proceeding.’

‘Well, it doesn’t matter now. You’ve got him. By the way, O’Leary’s DNA does match that taken from those two cold cases. So it looks like you’ll put him away for a long time.’

‘Thank you, Holly,’ Elaine said, a contrite note in her voice, ‘it would seem I have a lot of work to do to repair my relationship with Gail.’

Holly wasn’t certain what Elaine was thanking her for. She had logged the request for the two cold cases in the system herself but under Elaine’s name, and then she had done no more than her job. Although in this instance her work held a greater weight, at least for her and Elaine, because linking O’Leary to Fielding’s death and the two cold cases meant safeguarding Gail. 

Would Elaine have used the information to blackmail O’Leary if she had had no other choice and if it had been the only way to save Gail? Holly didn’t believe Elaine was deceitful, but in this instance she had a feeling Elaine might have risked everything for Gail.

‘I haven’t been a completely awful mother, Holly,’ Elaine said in a voice that made Holly wonder whether she was trying to convince herself or Holly. 'You have to believe I want what's best for my daughter. The scandal with Steve and Bill damaged the Peck name. Probably half the force believes Gail and I are on the take too. I do all this - I've pushed myself back up the ladder - for her. I want to make sure she has a place on the force and won't be held back by rumours and gossip. I know she has the potential to be a brilliant detective.' 

‘You know what Elaine, you did damage Gail but luckily she was strong enough to overcome that.’

If Elaine was surprised by Holly’s bluntness, she disguised it well, and instead of disagreeing, as Holly expected she might, the Superintendent nodded.

‘And she has you, and for that I’m grateful,’ Elaine said graciously.

‘Just before my grandmother died she said to me live a good life and be happy,’ Holly said slowly, ‘it’s as simple and I guess as complicated as that.’

‘A wise woman by the sounds of it,’ Elaine said, ‘and I understand what you are saying. That should be the sum total of my ambition for Gail.’

Holly nodded.

‘You know Holly, I think my daughter has already achieved that, in spite of me and Bill, and it fills me with pride.’

After Elaine left, Holly sat at her desk for sometime without moving. The autopsy report was open on the computer, and although Holly stared at the screen, she didn’t register the words. How had it gone so wrong, Holly wondered. When your child was born, you had this chance to help them make their way in the world, to construct a life that was good and true. You had a responsibility to nurture and love that child and offer every support so they could become the person they wanted to be. Maybe it all came down to that. Bill and Elaine had never allowed Gail to be who she wanted to be. No, it was all on their terms. Always.

Would Gail have become a police officer if her parents hadn’t given her any other choice? Holly couldn’t answer that. Gail liked her job. To serve and protect was second nature, but was this because of her upbringing or in spite of it. Gail could have left the force, especially after Steve was disgraced and her parents had stopped talking to her. Holly had no doubt Gail could be a success in any number of jobs, but yet she stayed. 

Gail hadn’t always been weighed down by the exPectations. There was a time, she told Holly, when she was quite young and her parents had seemed quite carefree and easy. 

Gail had memories of snow fights with Bill and Steve when they lived in their first house, a much more homely and modest place than the monolith they moved to when she was a teenager. She recalled lazy trips to their cabin and her dad patiently teaching her to swim; Elaine taking her trick or treating on Halloween with Gail dressed as a skeleton; Bill hoisting her on his shoulders so she could see the Christmas parade in downtown Toronto and buying her cocoa to warm her up afterwards and then taking her into the station to proudly show off his little cherub with her wide cheeky smile and blue blue eyes and angelic mop of curly blonde hair. 

When Gail thought about those times it was like there was a rosy glow around the memories, as if they were conjured rather than real, something that happened in a storybook or to someone else.

Around the time Gail turned seven things changed. It coincided with Bill and Elaine’s advancement within the force. As legacy cops - Bill by birth and Elaine by marriage – they had their own exPecktations to fulfill. The pressure to succeed was grueling and it never let up. Their performance in the force judged not just by the extended Peck family but every cop in every division who wasn’t a Peck and keenly watched and waited for a Peck to put a foot out of line. 

A nanny was hired for Gail and she rarely saw her parents. A hurried ‘goodnight’ on their way out to some gala or function, where they would schmooze and flatter, their ambition now taking center stage. It was around this time Bill and Elaine stopped showing Gail any physical affection. No kiss goodnight. No hugs. Gail told Holly she couldn’t recall her parents laughing anymore, and her strongest memory of Elaine from this time was of her in a starched white shirt, her mouth set in a grim line and her expression one of disapproval. 

It was a lonely period for Gail, saved only by Steve’s attention but even that was inconsistent. He was almost an adult, preparing to enter the academy, already intent on carving out his own career. When Bill and Elaine did interact with her, it seemed to Gail like it was all carping and criticism. She had realized early her parents regarded her achievements as an extension of their own accomplishments, a reflection of their success, and saw too that failure was a way to wound them. 

It was a miracle really, Holly thought, that Gail was able to rise above that. God, if she’d know even a little of this, Holly would have handled the Penny incident so differently. She wouldn’t have given up on Gail quite so easily. When they first met, Holly had thought Gail’s dismissal of her mother was histrionic over exaggeration, but back then she also believed Gail’s refusal to take taxis was pure petulance. 

They had come a long way, Holly realized, smiling as she thought about how Gail was with her now. Still the same person, still with that snark and attitude but self-assured, happier and lighter somehow, and more comfortable in showing her better self. It still filled Holly with wonder that this amazing, wonderful sometimes maddening, even mercurial but always caring woman loved her. 

This was how Gail found Holly. Looking vacantly at her computer, a smile quirking her lips.

‘What’s making you smile,’ Gail asked, ‘have you uncovered some obscure nerd fact.’

Holly laughed. ‘You,’ she said simply, looking at Gail with adoration, ‘I was thinking about you.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

In the car on the way home neither of them mentioned Fielding. Not at first. It was as if they had made an unspoken agreement, and the gruesomeness of the man’s death, the pointlessness of it was too hard to discuss just then. Instead Holly let Gail entertain her with animated descriptions of the fallout shelter. 

‘You would have been in nerd heaven,’ Gail enthused, ‘it was like a time capsule from the 1960’s. There were all these sealed crates with food inside. Candy and marshmallows and cocoa and baked beans.’

‘Any cheese puffs,’ Holly interjected.

‘Sadly, no. I’m glad I didn’t get stuck down there after a nuclear attack.’

‘I think the lack of cheese puffs may have been the least of your worries in a post apocalyptic world,’ Holly said playfully.

‘True. Still it was well stocked. It had toilet paper and candles and a whole crate of medical supplies. Even books.’

‘So how big is it?’

‘About eight foot by ten foot. It was a long way down too -at least ten feet. You had to climb down a thin rung ladder that was rusted almost through in some parts. No wonder Caitlin fell.’

‘She’s lucky she only broke her ankle.’

‘Yeah. She dropped her flashlight as she fell and couldn’t see anything and then she thought no one would ever find her.’

‘Oh, that’s awful,’ Holly sighed sympathetically, ‘she must have been so frightened.’

‘Yeah, she said she cried out for help at first but then she became too weak.’

‘Why did no one think to check out the backyard? I would have thought an abandoned house would be an obvious place to start looking for a missing child.’

‘Yep, you would think so,’ Gail said, ‘Officer Moore door knocked that house. He didn’t think it worth mentioning no one lived there or in fact search the yard himself. Don’t worry my mother tore strips off him.’

‘So if you’d known about the abandoned house earlier you may have found Caitlin sooner and then,’ Holly broke off.

‘And then Fielding may still be alive,’ Gail said, ‘and what if O’Leary had contacted us as soon as he realized Caitlin was missing, maybe we would have found her sooner too, and if he hadn’t intimidated Macy she may have told us about the shelter when I first spoke to her yesterday but then we could go crazy dwelling on what ifs.’

‘Yeah,’ Holly agreed quietly, ‘why did Marty Finnegan tell O’Leary Fielding had taken Caitlin.’

‘He was trying to get in with O’Leary. He’s a small time dealer and he wanted in the gang. He told Frankie and Chloe he was trying to impress O’Leary.’

‘So your mother didn’t put the idea in his head?’

‘No, he was clear about that. Finnegan knew Fielding was a pedophile and he realized when Elaine questioned him that she was on a fishing expedition, but he decided Fielding was probably guilty and that’s what he told O’Leary.’

‘God, what a mess.’

‘Yep,’ Gail agreed, ‘and now I’m also officially not talking to Elaine anymore.’

‘Oh, that’s probably something we need to discuss,’ Holly made a rueful face, ‘did you refuse to listen to your mother’s explanation.’

‘Ah, yeah,’ Gail said in a tone that said ‘obviously’. Really, Holly knew her too well, Gail thought.

‘Elaine came to speak to me. Her intentions were better than you think.’

‘Oh, and now I guess I’m going to have to hear what they were. Elaine is devious. I refused to listen to her so she spoke to you instead, knowing I would of course listen to you,’ Gail said but without rancor. Instead her tone was bantering.

‘Just hear me out, honey,’ Holly smiled. 

Even though she was driving, Gail could sense Holly had tilted her head to one side.

‘See. She’s clever. Now you’re her mouthpiece,’ Gail huffed, but she wasn’t really annoyed. She supposed she should find out what Elaine had to say.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The following evening, Gail leant against the counter in her kitchen and popped the top off a beer. Frankie had suggested a celebratory drink at the Penny. Caitlin had been found. Fielding’s murder solved. All in two days. Frankie said that deserved to be celebrated, but the investigation had left a sour taste in Gail’s mouth. For once the closing of a case hadn’t brought resolution, the sense of satisfaction at a job well done, of justice served. 

If Gail went to the Penny she’d feel like she was reveling in other people’s misfortunes. Then there was Elaine. Gail had listened to what Holly had to say and grudgingly admitted that maybe her mother was trying to do the right thing, but then everything to do with this case seemed tainted. Except Caitlin. At least finding her, saving her was one positive. Macy had called to thank Gail and say she’d visited Caitlin in the hospital, so maybe that was two positives Gail thought. 

She took a swig of her beer and then looked up at the sound of the front door opening. It was Holly. She’d been at the gym, having recently decided to take up boxing. Which, Gail had to concede, was not a bad way to blow off steam after autopsying a victim as mutilated as Fielding. Holly greeted Gail with a wide, warm smile as she came through to the kitchen. When she shrugged off her jacket, Gail noticed Holly hadn’t changed after her workout and was still wearing a pair of black yoga pants and a purple singlet. 

‘Drinking alone,’ Holly kidded, coming over to give Gail a quick kiss. She took the beer bottle from Gail and took a sip. Gail smiled and, taking hold of Holly’s waistband, pulled her back in.

‘I’m all hot and sweaty,’ Holly protested, ‘I decided to shower at home.’

‘Hmm, I don’t mind,’ Gail said, placing a hand on Holly’s ass to bring her even closer so they were flush against each other, ‘And the outfit’s kind of sexy as well. Have I ever told you how much I like your biceps and triceps and your deltoid is very fine too.’ With that Gail placed a kiss on the top of Holly’s shoulder, just where she knew the deltoid muscle was.

‘What about my exterior carpi radialis brevis muscle?’ Holly teased.

‘Oh that is exceptional,’ Gail kissed Holly on the lips, a soft lingering kiss. 

‘And my flexor digitorum profundus muscle?’

‘Oh now you’re just showing off,’ Gail grumbled, pulling Holly in for a much longer kiss, and slipping a hand up under Holly’s tank top to the small of her back. 

Gail’s hand had just migrated down beneath the waistband of the yoga pants to cup Holly’s ass when too late they became aware of some clattering in the house. In that instant, Frankie and Alannah, Chloe and Dov, Andy and Chris, Anna Robinson and Natasha appeared in the kitchen carrying beer and tequila and several packets of cheese puffs.

‘We didn’t want you drinking alone,’ Chloe said breathlessly.

‘But we can leave if we’re interrupting something,’ Frankie smirked.

‘Ah no, we’re just, ah you know, hanging,’ Gail said casually, thinking maybe no one had noticed where her hand was and wondering if she could extract said hand from Holly’s pants without drawing attention to it.

‘Gail,’ Holly laughed quietly into her neck, ‘you need to take your hand off my ass.’

‘Yep,’ Gail said, ‘on to it.’ 

With that Gail pulled her hand out with such force the elastic in Holly’s waistband thwacked against her skin. The sound reverberated around the kitchen and at the same time Holly gave a small hiss of surprise.

‘Smooth Peck,’ Frankie said, ‘very smooth.’ 

The rest of the group erupted into laughter.

‘Just give me a shot of tequila Anderson,’ Gail said, rolling her eyes, ‘and why hasn’t someone opened those cheese puffs. What are you waiting for.’

Holly chuckled and kissed Gail.

‘You are adorable,’ she said quietly.

‘Uh ah, badass,’ Gail said, shaking her head slightly.

‘Really you want to talk about asses right now,’ Holly smirked, and laughed again at Gail’s pout, ‘okay, an adorable badass.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter – Gail meets Holly’s parents and Lisa makes a re-appearance.


	33. Thirty-three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters.
> 
> Thanks for commenting, kudos, subscriptions and bookmarks and for reading. Your feedback is so very much appreciated. Let me know what you think of this chapter. I love to hear from readers.
> 
> I’m posting earlier than usual (and the chapter is slightly shorter) but my plan, if I have time, is to post the next chapter for Christmas.
> 
> Anyway hope you enjoy. Apologies for any of the mistakes.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Holly looked up as the brown sandwich bag hit her desk with a little thud. 

‘Lunch nerd,’ Gail said, ‘you need to eat. I thought you would have learnt that at nerd school.’

Holly gave a half-hearted laugh. She was so engrossed in the autopsy report she hadn’t heard Gail come into the office. Then again Gail had this ability to move so stealthily you could be excused for not noticing her appear. Holly had once called her a ninja which had made Gail laugh and laugh until she finally spluttered ‘oh god you are such a nerd. I bet you grew up watching the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,’ and when Holly nodded Gail had laughed even harder.

‘Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael,’ Holly had recited.

‘See when I hear those names it doesn’t conjure up weird little green turtle superheroes,’ Gail teased.

‘Yeah, well not all of us spent our wayward youth visiting art galleries in Italy.’ 

‘Oh no that happened earlier. That was during my family’s grand tour of Europe better known as the Elaine Peck School for wayward girls. The idea was to inculcate me in the finer arts, including the Old Masters so I could snag a husband from one Toronto’s blue chip families.’

‘And instead you ended up with a philistine like me,’ Holly said. 

‘Yeah, well I always preferred weird,’ Gail said and Holly swatted her playfully on the arm.

‘Ow,’ Gail complained.

‘You know for a police officer you are somewhat of a wuss,’ Holly said.

‘Yeah?’ Gail smiled so sweetly Holly didn’t anticipate what came next. They were sitting side by side on the sofa and in an instant Gail had pinned Holly to the cushions, her expression both impish and triumphant.

‘What was that again?’ Gail dipped down to kiss Holly, slowly, sensuously, expertly, leaving Holly in no doubt who was in control of this particular kiss. Gail pulled on Holly’s bottom lip and then scraped it with her teeth before pushing her tongue into Holly’s mouth in a move both gentle and decisive. Holly moaned, reveling in the kiss and the delightful dominance on display. Delightful because it wasn’t in the least bit aggressive rather Gail was being playful and provocative and somehow still so sweet.

Holly must have said that last word out loud, breathed it as the kiss came to an end.

 

‘I’m not sweet,’ Gail said, feigning offence, ‘and I’m not a weakling.’

‘I said wuss not weakling,’ Holly laughed, pulling Gail back down to resume the kiss and feeling Gail smile against her.

Now here in her office, Holly became aware Gail was speaking.

‘Bodies piling up huh,’ she said.

‘Yep, there seems no end to it,’ Holly sighed.

A week after O’Leary’s arrest for Fielding’s murder the carnage began. Just as Gail predicted. O’Leary left a vacuum which Lee Chou was happy to fill. First though he was systematically murdering O’Leary’s lieutenants and anyone else of significance in the gang. 

Elaine was right. O’Leary wouldn’t bother the Pecks anymore. What Gail didn’t get was how Elaine seemed to regard it as a rather efficient way to clear the streets of at least one gang. ‘Well if they want to kill each other, what can we do,’ she’d overheard her mother say to Oliver. What indeed. Though Gail suspected in the long run Chou might give them more grief than O’Leary ever did. 

Holly and the staff at the morgue were putting in a lot of overtime to cope with the sheer number of autopsies. Most of the killings had happened on 27’s patch and then Traci, Dov and Frankie had worked the one gang murder picked up by 15, which meant Gail hadn’t seen a lot of Holly for the last five days. Holly looked tired. Dark circles under her eyes and a slight stoop to her shoulders.

‘Will you be home for dinner tonight,’ Gail asked.

‘Yes, no, maybe,’ Holly sighed and rubbed her eyes. She reached for her glasses and put them on, ‘I’m hoping to be out of here by 9pm. That is if no more bodies turn up.’

‘Okay. How ‘bout I have dinner waiting for whenever you get home.’

‘You are the best girlfriend. Has anyone ever told you that?’ Holly smiled up at Gail a little goofily.

‘Ah,’ Gail narrowed her eyes as if in concentration, ‘aside from you exactly no one.’

‘Well, they are idiots,’ Holly waved her hand dismissively.

Gail smiled and came around the desk to where Holly sat.

‘And you are biased,’ Gail said as she leant down to give Holly a quickly kiss.

Before Gail could straighten up, Holly grabbed the lapels on her jacket and pulled her back in for a longer kiss.

‘No, I’m smart and I know a good thing when I see it.’ Holly said as they both drew back.

‘Yeah, yeah’ Gail flapped her hand about as she stood, ‘and now I have to go. The Superintendent has summonsed me.’

‘You’re speaking to her again?’

‘It would appear so,’ Gail made a face.

‘Oh,’ Holly said, as if something had just occurred to her, ‘that reminds me. My parents will be in Toronto this Thursday.’

‘In two days?’ Gail tried not to sound disconcerted.

Holly nodded.

‘When did you find this out?’

‘Mom called this morning,’ Holly said, ‘you know how my parents have decided to semi-retire. Well, they’ve both just accepted jobs at the university here. It will mean less hours and less teaching, and they can sill do their research. They talked about coming back to Toronto but I thought they meant in another year or two and then apparently it all happened really fast. The university wants them here just after New Year in time for the start of the winter semester. So they’re coming over to look for a place to live.’

‘Oh,’ Gail said, ‘so back here in Toronto permanently.’

‘Yeah, I can’t believe we’ll be living in the same city again,’ Holly said excitedly, ‘and I can’t wait for them to meet you.’

‘Uh Holly, you know parents don’t like me,’ Gail said, and then laughed a little bitterly, ‘not even my own.’

‘You know that’s not true,’ Holly smiled, her head tilted to one side. 

‘The fact Nick was an orphan was the main reason I dated him. In fact it may have been the only good thing about dating him.’

Holly laughed. ‘Honey, my parents are going to love you.’

‘Uh Holly we’re talking about me. I’m weird. I’m snarky, I’m bratty, I hate people and I’m quite possibly a psychopath and I’m guessing your hippy parents think the police are tools of state oppression.’

‘Well,’ Holly began teasingly, ‘I haven’t heard them say that about the police for a very long time.’

‘See, I haven’t got a chance.’

Holly stood up and looped her arms around Gail’s waist.

‘Firstly you are not a brat, and secondly your snark is entertainingly perceptive, well, most of the time. You are not a psychopath, you don’t hate all people because well you like me at least, and I love you and that in itself will be enough for my parents.’

‘Okay,’ Gail drew out the word, not sounding in the least convinced.

‘Of course they’re going to like you,’ Holly reassured, ‘they even adore Lisa.’

‘Now that is not the least bit comforting,’ Gail huffed, ‘and wait are you comparing me to Lisa?’

‘Never,’ Holly said, pulling Gail closer and kissing her on the lips, ‘now I better get back to work f I have any hope of making it home for dinner with you. I need to finish this report, then I’ve got another gang banger to autopsy.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Gail hated the big building. Postmodern. That’s how it had been described, although some officers referred to it derisively as the pink place. Twelve stories of glass and pink granite cubes, which from some angles looked as if they were stacked haphazardly one on top of the other. Police headquarters had none of the bustle or camaraderie of 15. Here a kind of dull hush permeated the corridors, and hierarchy was strictly observed. There was a sterility about it Gail knew was intended to intimidate outsiders, including police officers like herself who didn’t work there.

As the elevator reached her mother’s floor and the doors opened, Gail thought either her eyes were playing tricks or she’d entered some sort of parallel universe. Standing there was not just Elaine but Lisa and a Staff Sergeant called Fiona Vincent, who worked under Elaine’s command. They were speaking quite animatedly, apparently about a café Elaine was recommending Lisa and Fiona try for lunch.

Gail regarded the scene with annoyance. Then, because she’d promised her therapist she wouldn’t just dismiss people as stupid but actually try and figure out why she found them annoying, Gail did just that. Processing, that’s what the therapist called it. Elaine was all smiles and charm and seemed to regard the other two women with what seemed a cross between maternal indulgence and pride. Okay, Gail admitted to herself a little grudgingly, maybe she was resentful.

Nothing she ever did elicited this sort of response from Elaine, and while her mother had indicated she liked Holly, Gail suspected it was only because, one, Holly had a medical degree and earned good money and, two, she had made Gail finally settle down. But she and Holly had never basked in Elaine’s approval in the way Lisa and Fiona appeared to. Oh god, surely she wasn’t envious. Great. Something else she was going to have to examine at length with her therapist. Just great.

‘Gail,’ Elaine said somewhat merrily. 

First name basis, Gail noted, so clearly they were supposed to be all chummy. At work Elaine normally insisted on full titles.

‘Superintendent,’ she said churlishly.

‘Oh how funny,’ Lisa said, ‘calling your mother by her rank.’

‘I presume if you worked with your father at the hospital, you’d address him as doctor,’ Gail said stiffly.

Before Lisa could reply, Elaine cut in. ‘Oh Gail, sometimes you take things far too seriously. Now I best not delay you two lovely ladies any longer. Enjoy your lunch.’

While they were speaking, Fiona had pressed the button for the elevator again, and there was a ding as the car arrived. Just as the doors began to slide across, Fiona called out.

‘Gail, I’m looking forward to working with you on the LGBT Liaison Committee,’ she said. 

Before Gail could respond the elevator doors shut with a decided clank.

‘What the hell, mother?’ Gail said more aggressively than intended. Her vehemence surprised even herself. Having the liaison committee sprung on her was annoying but not enough to make her feel this angry. Okay, so maybe Elaine’s behavior wasn’t just making her resentful, maybe she was hurt by it too. 

‘That’s why I wanted to speak to you,’ Elaine said, seemingly unfazed, ‘my office.’ With that she set off briskly down the corridor with Gail trailing.

‘And what’s the deal with Vincent and Lisa,’ Gail screwed up her face.

‘Staff Sergeant Vincent,’ Elaine corrected, ‘I introduced them. It seems they have hit it off nicely. I believe this is their second date.’

‘Wait. You organized a blind date for Lisa? With a cop?’

‘Fiona Vincent is a well-respected officer. Attractive. Smart. She’s going places on the force. If things hadn’t worked out with Holly, I had plans for you and Fiona. You two could have made quite the power couple, but now that’s not going to happen I thought why not introduce her to Lisa.’

‘Why not?’ Gail echoed. By this time they had reached Elaine’s office. 

‘I thought you’d be happy,’ Elaine sighed, ‘it was clear Lisa needed a distraction so she’d stop interfering in your relationship with Holly.’

‘Oh,’ Gail said. Had her mother just admitted to doing something helpful for a change? ‘Well Lisa’s a serial monogamist. None of her relationships last so I wouldn’t be planning the wedding just yet.’

‘I know plenty of other single gay women I can set her up with,’ Elaine said airily, ‘although I have a feeling there is a definite spark there between those two. Did you pick up on it?’

‘Uh,’ Gail said, still catching up with the idea her mother had a list of eligible women to call on for blind date set-ups. But then why should she be surprised. Elaine had cultivated a whole catalogue of eligible bachelors for Gail. 

‘Anyway, it would be a delicious irony if Lisa Gordon married a police officer, don’t you agree,’ Elaine smiled at Gail, that conspiratorial smile which drew you in and made you feel as if you were firmly on team Elaine regardless of whether you wanted to be or not, and in return Elaine was looking out just for you. Except there was also something mischievous in her expression that made Gail believe her mother was actually on her side this time.

Was she looking out for her, Gail mused? Elaine might criticize her from sun up to sundown, but watch out anyone who dared say a bad word about a Peck. Had her mother somehow discovered Lisa made those remarks about Gail being no more than a beat cop?

‘You should have set her up with a rookie or better still a cadet.’

Elaine laughed which made Gail certain she knew about Lisa’s remarks.

‘Anyway Holly’s not talking to Lisa,’ Gail said.

Elaine arched an eyebrow in surprise. ‘I see some of your more adolescent qualities are rubbing off on Holly. I had hoped the influence would be working in the opposite direction. Let me guess, the falling out was over you’

‘More or less. Actually, I’m trying to convince Holly to speak to Lisa,’ Gail said, deciding to ignore her mother’s barbs, ‘and before you judge Holly there is a long history of Lisa behaving very very badly. I think Holly just needs some time before she’s ready to forgive her.’

Elaine nodded as she sat down behind her desk and indicated Gail take a seat opposite.

‘A space has opened up on the LGBT Liaison Committee. I recommended you,’ she said without further preamble.

‘Superintendent, I have a huge amount of respect and admiration for the work the committee does in the community,’ Gail said, choosing her words carefully, ‘but you know I’m not good with people.’

‘Well this is your chance to develop those skills. You could learn a lot from Fiona Vincent. Being on the committee will be a good career move. It will get you noticed and for the right reasons.’

‘I’m going to decline. I haven’t been a detective long. I feel like I’m still learning how to do that job. Being on the committee would mean a lot less time on cases.’

‘You’re quite determined,’ Elaine stated rather than asked. She pursed her lips. ‘I can’t say I’m not disappointed but perhaps you’ll reconsider next time there is an opening.’

‘Yeah, I guess,’ Gail shrugged, in truth relieved and a little surprised Elaine wasn’t pushing it. 

Elaine didn’t immediately speak again. Rather she seemed to be considering something.

‘Well,’ Gail said awkwardly, half rising from her chair, ‘this has been fun but I need to get back to work.’

‘Um, no sit for a minute longer,’ Elaine said and Gail did as asked. ‘It’s Steve. He wants to move back to Toronto. I don’t think it’s safe for him. Not just yet. Perhaps you can use your influence…’ Elaine trailed off.

‘Of course,’ Gail nodded. 

‘Give it another six months and there won’t be anything left of O’Leary’s gang.’

‘A happy outcome,’ Gail said sarcastically.

‘I know you blame me for Fielding’s death,’ Elaine said heavily, ‘believe me I’ve gone over my actions again and again but it was a line of inquiry we had to pursue. Fielding was a pedophile and he admitted speaking to Caitlin just before she disappeared.’

‘Maybe if O’Leary had trusted us, actually believed we would concentrate on finding Caitlin rather than target him, he wouldn’t have gone after Fielding.’

‘Perhaps, but he’s a thug so he may have killed Fielding regardless. And no matter what reassurances we gave him, O’Leary was always going to be suspicious of the police.’

Which Gail had to concede was true. She gave a brief nod and this time she did stand.

‘Oh by the way, I believe Holly’s parents are visiting. I trust I’ll have an opportunity to meet them,’ Elaine said casually.

Gail couldn’t help it. Her eyes went wide. She was completely annoyed with herself. Elaine had taught her how to keep her expression neutral, to betray nothing and here she was as transparent as a pane of glass. Was there anything Elaine didn’t know?

‘Lisa told you,’ Gail said, feeling like she’d scored a small victory when the minutest flicker in her mother’s eyes indicated she was right.

‘Well, am I to meet them? You and Holly are living together now. Essentially she is my daughter-in-law, although it might be better all round if that were formalized.’

‘Uh,’ Gail said, realizing Elaine had just suggested, well no, actually made it clear she wanted Holly and Gail to get married, and not sure how to respond to any of what Elaine was saying.

‘Perhaps I could join you when you meet Holly’s parents. I imagine it will be dinner. Make it a family affair.’

‘No. That’s going to happen Mom. When I meet Holly’s parents for the first time it will be on my own,’ Gail said with finality, wondering how much of a family affair it could be with two of the Pecks conspicuously absent. And just how did Elaine plan on explaining Steve and Bill’s non-attendance?

‘Oh very well,’ Elaine huffed, ‘I can see I’m not going to get my way today.’

As Gail reached the door, she turned around, unable to resist scoring one last point.

‘Just so you know mother, Fiona Vincent’s not my type.’

‘Type? Before Holly returned you didn’t exactly seem to have a type. And I believe we’re talking quite a number.’ 

Geez, Gail thought, what didn’t Elaine know. Not that Gail had slept with that many women. Sure she’d done a bit of experimentation between Holly leaving and the six-month relationship with Olivia, and after that it was just the occasional fuck with Frankie, but that stopped when Frankie got too clingy. Actually, come to think about it, she had slept with more women than men. But who was counting. And who was feeding Elaine this information anyway? It couldn’t be Frankie. Then it hit her.

‘You shouldn’t believe everything Jen Luck tells you.’

Elaine’s lips twitched into a half smile, it was a little supercilious like she’d been caught out but wasn’t going to admit it.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

After Gail left her office, Holly did a mental face palm. She was a complete idiot. She was so thrilled about her parents plan to return to Toronto she hadn’t stopped to consider how Gail might react. Of course Gail would be apprehensive. Holly should have anticipated that. 

Holly realized she was doing it again. It was just like when she introduced Gail to Lisa and Rachel. She’d been so excited for her two best friends to meet the woman she’d fallen for so hard she assumed they’d immediately see all the things which made Gail so wonderful. And look how well that had gone. She knew Lisa could be difficult but it hadn’t crossed her mind she would be such an and out bitch that night.

Back then it hadn’t occurred to Holly anything would go wrong. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She’d actually been more concerned Gail wouldn’t like Lisa and Rachel because, yes, they were practically like family, even Lisa, and so for Holly it meant a great deal that Gail get along with her friends. 

Holly sighed. She needed to remember she and Gail had come a long way since then. They were more secure and settled in their relationship just as Gail was much less wary and more secure within herself. They trusted one another, which Holly realized was a huge step for Gail. Holly had never given Gail any reason not to trust her except that night at the Penny when she decided it was easier just to humour Lisa rather than stand up for Gail. As she thought about that disastrous night, Holly realized what she needed to do. She had to reassure Gail they were in this together, and no matter what Holly would stand by her. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

After leaving Elaine’s office, Gail wished she could go talk to Holly. Interacting with her mother was exhausting. Elaine seemed to approach every conversation with Gail as a contest. Even though she had grown up with it, Gail had never really got used to Elaine’s combativeness. She hated that she couldn’t completely relax around her mother because more than anything Elaine appeared determined to disconcert her, to catch her out. And then Gail hated that she couldn’t help but be drawn into the game Elaine was playing, couldn’t resist trying to one up her mother.

Gail sighed. Holly was too busy for distractions. Meantime she had Kurt and Becca’s visit to consider. They’d be here in two days. In fact in less than 48 hours. She owed it to Holly and she owed it to herself not to screw up the meeting. 

Back at 15, Oliver motioned her into his office. 

‘Come in, come in my not so petulant Peck,’ he said, ‘Celery is here and is desirous to exchange greetings and I need to see you are in one piece after your visit to the dark side.’

‘Ha,’ Gail rolled her eyes, ‘still breathing. Hi Celery.’

‘You looked stressed, Gail’ Celery said with concern.

Oliver narrowed his eyes. ‘What did your mother do?’

‘Nothing. It’s not that, it’s,’ Gail stopped.

‘It’s?’ Oliver prompted.

‘You can tell us,’ Celery said, her expression sympathetic, ‘it’s something to do with Holly isn’t it.’

Gail sighed and nodded. How did Celery do that, know exactly what was troubling her. Could Celery read minds or was Gail’s aura telegraphing it or something.

‘I’m meeting Holly’s parents on Thursday night and it’s really important to Holly they like me but no parents have ever liked me and I don’t trust myself not to say or do something really stupid so I’m kind of freaking out a little I think,’ Gail said in a rush, surprising even herself at her candor. Oliver and Celery just seemed to have this uncanny ability to make her talk.

‘Well, I’m a parent and hypothetically speaking if my offspring were older, I’d be more than happy for you to date one of them,’ Oliver said, ‘though of course that is a moot point because the esteemed Doctor Stewart has stolen your heart.’

Gail rolled her eyes again.

‘Ah,’ said Celery, who had been searching through her bag, ‘here it is.’ She held up a little brown bottle with a dropper.

‘Here what is?’ Gail screwed up her face.

‘Rescue remedy. Made from Bach flowers. It’s homeopathic. Alleviates stress and helps you become calm and centered,’ Celery held out the bottle to Gail, ‘six drops on your tongue. Take it just before you meet Holly’s parents.’

Gail looked at Celery skeptically but took the bottle and held it gingerly between her thumb and forefinger.

‘It works. I guarantee,’ Celery said.

‘And there’s no need to fret, my petulant Peck. They’re going to like you,’ Oliver held out his hands in a wide gesture, ‘what’s not to love.’

Now Gail looked at Oliver skeptically.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

‘Really, your mother set Lisa up with a cop,’ Holly said, ‘that is hilarious. Sometimes your mother is kind of awesome.’

‘Awesome. That’s probably going too far but, okay, occasionally Elaine does use her powers for good,’ Gail replied drily.

Holly spooned some more dahl onto her plate.

‘Mmm this food is amazing, Gail,’ she said, moaning in appreciation. 

True to her word Gail had made dinner. Chicken tikka and dahl with riata and rice and papadums because Indian food was one of Holly’s favorites and Holly had had a grueling day. Very few people were aware of this domesticated side of Gail. She kept it well hidden. 

Dov didn’t even know she could cook until he came round for dinner one night. All those years at the frat house and apparently she hadn’t once cooked a meal. Gail shrugged and said if the boys had found out they would have expected a hot meal every night. Dov’s expression was dubious to say the least. ‘Lazy’ he had mouthed to Holly, who had laughed, but not before Gail had clipped the back of his head. 

‘They are sounding a lot like sex noises Stewart,’ Gail now teased.

‘Oh really,’ Holly raised an eyebrow, ‘sorry but good as your food is it can’t compete with your.’

Holly stopped suddenly.

‘Lost for words nerd?’ Gail asked amused, ‘sexual prowess, my magic in the bedroom, my Sapphic agility, my superhuman ability to give you multiple orgasms, my awesome.’

Before Gail could finish Holly said in a rush, ‘Hi Chloe. Hi Dov.’

Gail swiveled around in her chair and saw the two of them standing in the doorway behind her.

‘Ugh,’ she said. She just hoped Chloe and Dov realized she was being deliberately cheesy.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘My mother wants to meet your parents,’ Gail said as she and Holly got into bed.

‘Oh,’ Holly said, turning so she was facing Gail, ‘I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.’

‘I put her off. For now. But Elaine did refer to you as essentially her daughter-in-law so I’m not sure how long I can stall her.’

‘She did,’ Holly smiled, ‘that’s kind of touching. It’s very inclusive of her.’

‘Don’t get too excited. Membership of the Peck family comes with a price,’ Gail said, ‘what’s that Groucho Marx quote, I wouldn’t want to belong to any club that accepts me as a member. Kind of sums up how I feel about the Pecks.’

‘Ha, well seeing as I’m huge fan of Gail Peck, I won’t be cancelling my membership,’ Holly smiled and Gail made a face at her, ‘but honey about my parents.’

‘Do you want them to stay here,’ Gail said abruptly, ‘I know they usually stay with you when they visit so they could, you know, stay here.’

‘They’ve booked an Airbnb place round the corner. It’s sweet of you to offer but I don’t expect that. Not when you haven’t met them.’

‘Sweet,’ Gail mouthed and made a face, which made Holly laugh.

‘I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable or worried about the visit. I guess what I’m saying is I’ve got your back, not like, you know,’ Holly trailed off.

‘Not like when you introduced me to Lisa and Rachel,’ Gail finished for her, ‘it’s okay Holly. I’m a big girl now. I can handle parents without running away. I promise.’ 

With that Gail leaned over and kissed Holly, but Holly couldn’t shake the slight uneasiness that had overtaken her. If she’d been keen for Lisa and Rachel to like Gail and visa versa, she was even more eager for Gail and her parents to get along.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

On Thursday evening Gail stood outside a restaurant in downtown Toronto feeling as nervous as hell. Holly had been delayed by an autopsy – yet another of O’Leary’s lieutenants. She’d phoned from the morgue sounding apologetic and anxious all at once and offering to cancel but it was really too last minute and Gail assured her she could go ahead without her as long as Kurt and Becca didn’t mind.

‘I’m sure they’ll appreciate some time just with you,’ Holly said, ‘and I should be there within an hour.’

What Gail hadn’t revealed to Holly in their hurried phone call was she had spent at least the last hour deciding what to wear. She’d googled the restaurant. It was nice, funky even. Jeans and combat boots would be too casual. Dress and high heels too formal. She didn’t know what Holly’s parents were expecting. Gail realized she’d forgotten to ask Holly if they’d met any of her other girlfriends. Well, of course they had. It wasn’t like Holly had just come out. She’d known she was gay since College. Actually she’d known before that. It was only in College she acted on it. Gail wondered how those other meetings had gone. Maybe there was an ex girlfriend Becca and Kurt adored and secretly wished was still with Holly. The one who was a human right’s lawyer. No better still, the one who became an academic. Ugh, she knew she working herself up into a state. 

‘Seriously, get a grip Peck,’ Gail told her reflection in the mirror and then grimaced. Maybe a couple of shots of tequila might steady her nerves. No, that was definitely not a good idea. The old Gail, the less secure Gail, the Gail before Holly would have done that.

Geez, she was thirty years old. She was a police officer who didn’t flinch at having to interrogate even the most hardened of criminals. She could cuff a man more than twice her body weight. She’d lost count of the number of cases she’d help solve. In fact she knew she was fairly smart – she didn’t have an IQ in the stratosphere like Holly but she could keep up with her. So meeting Holly’s parents shouldn’t freak her out this much. 

Then Gail remembered the rescue remedy Celery had given her. Really, she thought to herself, really, you’re going to take some hippy potion. Holly would laugh if she found out. Gail took it anyway. Six drops under the tongue. Then she returned to her wardrobe and settled on a pair of tailored black trousers. She’d bought them when she made Detective, thinking the job might sometimes call for a more corporate look, and so far had never worn them. She paired this with a smoky grey linen shirt and suede ankle boots with a small heel. The shoes brought her up to Holly’s height. 

Then there was the question of make-up. Gail applied too much and immediately scrubbed it off, contemplated no make-up and then opted for subtle eyeliner and a red lipstick, which was neither bold nor insipid but somewhere in-between. This would have to do, she decided. There really wasn’t any time to change again. 

Gail checked her watch. Holly was due home half an hour ago. The phone rang then and it was Holly, and Gail had reassured her it was okay. She could go ahead and meet Becca and Kurt, and Holly could join them later. 

Now here she was standing on the sidewalk outside the restaurant and looking through the plate glass window. Inside was low lit but diffused by a golden glow making the space both intimate and inviting. Clearly a popular place, it looked to be full to capacity and there were even people lined up at the bar hoping to be seated. Wait staff in starched white waist aprons moved seamlessly between tables and two barmen dressed in black made a show of mixing cocktails, silhouetted against the backlit bottles arrayed behind them. 

Gail hesitated. She hadn’t expected Becca and Kurt to choose a restaurant like this. She had imagined they’d prefer something more homely. Holly said they were still hippies at heart and this place, well it was upmarket and kind of chic. God she wished she’d let Holly cancel. Gail felt the panic beginning. It started as a tightness in her chest, then moved to her stomach so she felt slightly nauseous, and finally back up to her head, filling it with white noise. Her palms were sweaty and she felt hot all over, which was weird because it was a cold night and really her leather jacket was barely enough to keep her warm.

No, Gail said to herself, don’t let this happen. These are Holly’s parents. They are good people. After all they raised an awesome daughter. Besides she had promised Holly she wouldn’t run away this time. With that Gail pushed through the door to the restaurant.

She spotted Holly’s parents immediately. Holly had Kurt’s coloring, but Becca’s smile and the way she tilted her head to one side was pure Holly. In that instant Gail noticed Lisa sitting across from the couple. She was holding forth and Holly’s parents were listening with rapt attention. Now Gail really wanted to turn and run, but she’d promised. She’d promised. As Gail drew up behind Lisa there was no mistaking it, the boob job doctor was talking about her. 

The noise of the restaurant fell away and it was as if everyone stopped mid action – a waiter flicking open a napkin, a diner with a fork half way to his open mouth, the bartender upending a cocktail shaker. Everything was suspended except the three before her. In the absence of any other sound, their conversation seemed animated and loud and made Lisa’s words crystal clear.

‘Gail was the biggest mistake Holly ever made,’ Lisa said.

Then it was like everything started moving again and the sounds of the restaurant, the clink of glasses, the jangle of cutlery, the repetitive beat of the mood music, the door to the kitchen swinging open, the murmur of voices all came at Gail with a roar.

Gail took another step towards the table and Kurt and Becca looked up expectantly.

‘Hi. I’m Gail,’ she said, ‘I see Lisa has been singing my praises.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Gail didn’t quite get to meet the parents but she will in the next chapter. And no case this time round.


	34. Thirty-four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….
> 
> Thanks as ever for the kudos, subscriptions, bookmarks, comments and for reading. I have rushed to get this chapter finished in time for Christmas so I hope it reads well and the mistakes aren’t too glaring. And this chapter became longer than I originally planned as I wanted to include something of Christmas in it.
> 
> I hope you all have a very happy festive season. One thing you could do over the holiday, by way of a present, is review a fanfic – it doesn’t have to be this one, but trust me writers love to hear what readers think. It works wonders to inspire you to write that next chapter!
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

Holly was really, really late now. She’d almost run two red lights in her haste to get to the restaurant. The autopsy had taken longer than expected and Gail had now been alone with her parents for nearly an hour and a half. At least Gail hadn’t called to say she’d bailed or Kurt and Becca had gone home. So that was a good sign right? Would Gail call if something went wrong? Of course she would, Holly reassured herself, pushing down any niggling doubt.

Resisting the urge to check her phone, Holly pressed her foot more firmly on the gas, heedless she was now speeding. Had Gail been in the car she would be telling Holly to slow down and she might be a police officer, but there was no way she could make a speeding ticket disappear. Even Elaine couldn’t or wouldn’t do that. Holly always preferred it when Gail drove. She was the better driver. After all she’d aced the driving course at the academy. Of course. Elaine wouldn’t have accepted anything less.

Unlike Holly, Gail didn’t get so distracted by telling a story she didn’t notice until too late the speedometer drift over the speed limit. Once Holly was pulled over for doing 45 in a 30-kilometer zone. Gail had groaned when she heard the blip of the siren and groaned even more when she saw Andy and Chris emerge from the cruiser. They in turn couldn’t contain their grins when they saw who was in the car. Holly was let off with a caution and some good-humored teasing, much of it directed at Gail. 

By a fluke, Holly found a park outside the restaurant. She swept through the door at a half run, ignoring the maître-de as she immediately spotted her parents with Gail and oh my god was that Lisa, she thought. What the hell was she doing here? Surely her parents hadn’t invited Lisa. 

Then she understood the restaurant choice – of course Lisa would suggest somewhere hip and somewhat upmarket. What she didn’t understand was why her parents had thought to invite Lisa. Especially when they were meeting Gail for the first time. Surely, Holly reasoned, Becca wasn’t trying to force a reconciliation between she and Lisa. Then again quite inexplicably Becca always had a soft spot for Lisa.

As Holly reached the table, her parents and Lisa burst out laughing at something Gail was saying. Gail looked up then and caught sight of Holly and smiled that big wide loving smile reserved just for her. Rather than calming Holly, it left her even more perplexed. When Gail’s smile faltered a little, Holly realized she was frowning slightly at her.

Holly’s parents noticed her then and leapt up so first Becca and then Kurt could draw her into a hug. Gail stood too and Holly kissed her on the cheek, and then as she leant in to hug her, Gail whispered 'thank god you're here. I don't think I could have kept that up for much longer.'

As they took their seats again, Holly looked around at the smiling faces. Gail’s was mainly of relief but the other three looked genuinely happy. Had she stepped into some sort of parallel universe, Holly wondered or was her mind playing tricks? Admittedly, it had been a long couple of days at work and she hadn’t had nearly enough sleep. Though usually it took extreme sleep deprivation to make someone delusional, so she could rule that out. Holly knew there was probably a vital piece of information she was missing which could explain what was happening here. She felt Gail take her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. Then she realized Lisa was speaking.

'You're right, ' Lisa beamed, 'Gail has some great stories.'  
…………………………………………………………………………………

It made sense when Gail and Lisa explained later. When Gail appeared at the table and introduced herself to Kurt and Becca, Lisa, who had her back to Gail, whipped her head around clearly startled. ‘Where’d you come from,’ she said.

‘Uh, the door,’ Gail said sarcastically, ‘and before that the street.’

Gail would have continued but suddenly Becca was on her feet hugging her.

‘It’s so lovely to finally meet you, Gail,’ Becca said smiling, ‘Holly says you don’t hugging but will you make an exception for me.’

Gail felt herself relaxing into Becca’s embrace. Which was weird, because this really wasn’t the way she communicated with people. Well, apart from Holly and well she wasn’t people. It certainly wasn’t the way she communicated with strangers, except Becca didn’t seem like a stranger. It wasn’t the physical resemblance to Holly, rather there was something unusually soothing about Becca, like her presence alone could quiet Gail’s anxieties, which when Gail thought about it was exactly the effect Holly had on her. 

Once Gail was released from the hug, Kurt put out his hand to warmly shake hers. The waiter appeared then, and pulled out a chair for Gail, opening her napkin onto her lap with a flourish and offering a pre-dinner drink.

‘She’ll have a shot of tequila,’ Lisa said, all smiles, ‘your very best.’

The waiter nodded, but Gail started to demur. The very best tequila in a place like this would set her back a small fortune. What was Lisa playing at?

‘My treat,’ Lisa smiled again, ‘I’m paying for dinner. Think of it as an early Christmas present.’

‘Uh,’ Gail said, suddenly unsure. Lisa had never given her a Christmas present before. Did this mean she’d have to give her one? And more importantly, had she walked into some parallel universe? Jeez just what was in that hippy potion Celery gave her. Maybe it was making her hallucinate. Gail felt for the bottle of rescue remedy, which she’d placed in her trouser pocket just in case. Maybe she shouldn’t take any more of the stuff.

As the waiter left, Lisa looked at Gail quizzically. She must have figured something was off. Now Lisa wasn’t always, in fact wasn’t very often the most socially aware person. In truth Gail had serious questions about her emotional intelligence or lack thereof. But on this occasion, Lisa somehow put two and two together and figured out Gail had walked in on the tail end of her explanation.

‘I was just telling Becca and Kurt, that leaving Toronto and you was the biggest mistake Holly ever made.’

‘You were,’ Gail replied, hoping she didn’t look as dumbstruck as she felt. She surreptitiously put her hand under her chin to check her mouth wasn’t hanging wide open and then smiled weakly at Kurt and Becca. If they noticed her discomfort, they didn’t show it.

‘Lisa tells us you have a beautiful house,’ Becca began.

‘Yeah, big enough for grandchildren,’ Lisa cut in.

Gail’s eyes darted from Becca to Lisa. They were both smiling, and it seemed genuine and not the least bit conspiratorial. She still didn’t get what was going on here and had no idea how to respond. Which, let’s face it, Gail told herself, was not unusual for her in any social situation. Strangely, though, she didn’t feel panicked by this, more at a loss as to what was expected of her. 

‘It’s okay, Gail’ Lisa said, ‘they want grandkids.’

‘Oh, yes,’ Becca enthused, ‘I’d almost given up hope but Lisa said you’re great with kids and you’ve persuaded Holly children are a good idea.’

‘Well, Holly didn’t exactly need a lot of persuading,’ Gail began, grateful Lisa had provided a cue as to how she should respond, ‘but eventually, yeah, kids, but Holly must have told you that.’

‘I,’ Becca faltered for moment, ‘Can I be honest?’

‘Oh no,’ Kurt said genially, ‘be prepared Gail, Becca is a straight shooter.’

‘Uh huh,’ Gail said, her mouth suddenly dry and the power of speech seeming to have deserted her.

‘Honey,’ Kurt said to Becca, ‘perhaps you should wait until Holly’s here. Let Gail’

Becca interrupted before Kurt could finish.

‘I was unsure about you and Holly. I was worried you’d break Holly’s heart again, that the relationship wouldn’t last and so I haven’t been that receptive to hearing about it.’

‘Oh,’ Gail said, wondering why Holly had never said anything about this. Holly was close to her parents, so Becca’s lack of enthusiasm must have hurt and yet she’d never discussed it with Gail. 

Maybe Holly had been protecting her, not wanting Gail to beat herself up again for ignoring Holly’s calls and texts after that disastrous night at the Penny, or to blame herself for not being ready to commit to Holly all those years ago. Then again maybe Holly was worried if Gail knew about her mother’s doubts, she’d be defensive and prickly and not at all well disposed towards Becca. And that, of course, would just give Becca another reason not to like Gail. And maybe it was all these things because Holly just wouldn’t be able to stand it if the people she loved the most didn’t get along. 

Suddenly Gail understood what Lisa was doing and in that moment she knew what was required of her. Lisa had laid the groundwork, now Gail needed to step up. There was no room for nerves or self-doubt. She wasn't going to sabotage this, no it was way too important to Holly.

‘Oh,’ Gail said again, ‘so Lisa filled you in.’

‘Yes, and I’m sorry I was so quick to judge you. Please believe I was just being a an overly protective mother,’ Becca smiled, ‘it sounds like you make Holly very happy.’

‘I hope so,’ Gail said solemnly, ‘I think we make each other happy.’ 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

It transpired the moment Lisa sat down at the table, Becca began to interrogate her about Gail. She and Holly’s parents had arrived at the restaurant early, about twenty minutes before Gail, giving Becca plenty of time for the cross examination, as Lisa explained to Gail and Holly later. It was after Holly’s parents had left and the three of them had migrated to the bar. 

Becca was worried Gail would break Holly’s heart again. She had once before hadn’t she? Refused to take Holly’s calls and forced her to flee to another city. It had devastated Holly. Anyway, why had it taken Gail until she was twenty-eight to come out? Becca knew about the two relationships Holly had had with straight girls that ended unhappily when it turned out they were experimenting and at least one of them returned to her boyfriend. What, Becca wanted to know, was stopping Gail from doing the same thing?

Then there was Gail’s job. It was dangerous, no question about it and was that fair on Holly. Just after Holly returned to Toronto, she called Becca frantic because Gail was undercover and had gone off the radar. What kind of life is that for Holly, Becca asked Lisa. 

‘I think you’re being a little harsh,’ Kurt had suggested.

‘Well, am I Lisa?’ Becca challenged.

‘I am afraid you are,’ Lisa said.

Then she reassured Becca and Kurt on all counts. If Gail had broken Holly’s heart, Lisa said, their split had left Gail shattered. The not talking to Holly, well Lisa might have had a hand in that. Becca narrowed her eyes at Lisa then and Lisa held up her hands and said ‘I was just protecting Holly. It backfired.’ Anyhow, she had the impression Gail had worked very hard on communicating better, and Holly was the reason.

And yes it had taken Holly to make Gail realize she was gay but there was no doubt about it now. ‘Go back to men,’ Lisa scoffed, ‘that’s probably the last thing Gail would ever do. No actually, the last thing she’d ever do is leave Holly.’ 

As to Gail’s job, Lisa said of course there were risks, but Gail never did anything stupid. Holly had finally found someone who was interested in her work, in fact was fascinated by what she did and could quite happily discuss forensics with her for hours. The two of them just get one another, Lisa said, in a way her parents never had. 

‘In fact,’ she paused and looked sincerely at Becca and Kurt and then said a little slyly, a little calculatingly, ‘the way they get each other, it reminds me of you too.’ 

Then Lisa said that line about Holly leaving Toronto and Gail walked in, but by then Lisa knew Becca and Kurt were sold.

‘I had to do it because,’ Lisa said, ‘well Holly.’

‘Yeah, Holly,’ Gail agreed.

Holly looked from one to the other. ‘When did you two start communicating in incomplete sentences?’

‘Just then,’ Gail shrugged, ‘but Lisa had to do it because it would tear you apart if your parents didn’t like me.’

‘And if Gail didn’t like Becca and Kurt,’ Lisa said.

‘Oh,’ Holly again looked from Gail to Lisa, ‘oh.’ 

Of course they were right. Holly suddenly felt an enormous rush of gratitude towards Lisa, which was unexpected and not something she had ever imagined she’d feel about Lisa ever. In fact until tonight, she hadn’t been entirely certain she ever wanted to see Lisa again. But there, just like that, Lisa had shown how well she knew her and, realizing how much it counted, had finally gone into bat for Holly and Gail.

‘Lost for words again, nerd,’ Gail laughed and leaned into kiss Holly.

‘Ugh, get a room,’ Lisa said, but when Gail gave her a sideways look she saw Lisa’s smirk was teasing rather than spiteful.

'When I walked in,' Holly confessed, 'I thought I'd entered some kind of alternate universe.'

'You and me both,’ Gail laughed.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

In fact after Holly sat down, Becca began talking about how she was going house hunting the following day. Kurt was catching up with an old colleague at the university and she was meeting a realtor who had a number of houses he promised would suit her.

'Someone at work recommended his firm, but to be honest,' Becca said, 'he comes across as a bit sleazy.'

'What's his name?' Gail asked, 'maybe I can do a background check.'

'Isn't that an abuse of your position,' Becca's voice was teasing but Gail felt Holly tense next to her and she gave her hand another reassuring squeeze.

'I bet you've been tempted to run a background check on me, Peck,' Lisa drawled, 'or have you already.'

'Well,’ Gail drew out the word, 'now you mention it.'

'Figures,’ Lisa said, ‘never cross a cop. I guess I’ll have to pay those speeding fines now.’

‘Gail would never do that,’ Holly bristled, ‘she’s the most honest cop I know.’

‘Holly, it’s okay,’ Gail interrupted, ‘they’re just ribbing me. I think your mother realized I was joking about the background check.’

Becca nodded.

‘Oh,’ Holly said in a small voice, ‘oh alright then. I just didn’t want you to get the wrong impression. Gail takes her job very seriously and works very hard and she does things by the book, well not exactly, I mean she follows the rules but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t think laterally and that’s one of the things that’s makes her such a great detective and.’

Gail leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on the corner of Holly’s mouth.

‘Oh,’ Holly pushed her glasses back up her nose, ‘oh, okay then.’

‘That might be the most effective way I’ve seen of stopping Holly mid ramble,’ Kurt laughed.

‘Oh, Dad,’ Holly grumbled slightly, feeling and sounding like a teenager embarrassed by a lame comment from her father. 

Lisa and Becca laughed and Gail found herself smiling. In fact the dinner was going so well, Gail, who had the following day off, found herself offering to accompany Becca on the house search.

‘I can even flash my badge at Mr Sleaze,’ she said, ‘uh if that’s okay with you Holly.’

Holly gave Gail a wry smile and playfully shoved her in the shoulder.

Now at the bar, continuing the postmortem of the evening, Lisa declared that in her opinion the night was a complete success. 

‘I was a bit worried at first you wouldn’t catch on Gail,’ Lisa said, ‘you looked a bit hostile when you walked in. I half expected you to threaten to taser yourself in the eye and then walk out.’

Maybe, Gail thought, she should run a background check on Lisa. Frankie would go along with it. Haul Lisa’s ass into the station and pretend to charge her for those unpaid speeding fines, because Gail was certain there were outstanding fines. Lisa had made so many jokey references to them Gail was beginning to suspect a guilty conscience. 

Then just as quickly as the idea occurred to her, Gail dismissed it. There were other ways of messing with Lisa. So instead Gail narrowed her eyes at the plastic surgeon, giving her that contemptuous stare she was famed for, and Lisa found herself instinctively shrinking back.

‘Too soon to joke about tasers?’ Lisa asked, annoyed the timorousness in her voice betrayed the fact Gail Peck could still make her nervous. 

Gail began to nod slowly and then burst into peals of laughter.

‘Got you there, Gordon.’

Lisa made a sour face and Gail excused herself to go to the bathroom. As she came back to the bar, Gail could distinctly hear Lisa’s voice cutting across the din in the restaurant. Lisa was talking about Fiona Vincent, who it transpired she’d slept with for the first time the previous night. Holly was no prude - Gail could attest to that - but from the look on her face, Gail could tell Lisa was being far too graphic.

‘God, the sex was amazing,’ Lisa said to Holly, ‘the best ever. What is it with women on the force? I mean given you can’t keep your hands off Gail, clearly the sex is great too.’

Gail chose this moment to sidle up to stand just behind the two women. Once again Holly marveled at how she seemed to appear from nowhere. Lisa didn’t notice Gail until she spoke.

‘We have special courses at the Academy,’ Gail said drily, ‘it’s part of our community outreach.’

‘Geez, Peck,’ Lisa practically squealed in surprise, ‘where’d you come from. You should stop sneaking up on people like that.’

‘And you should use your inside voice, Lisa.’

Holly stifled a laugh. Gail was right. Lisa had been talking so loudly and expansively it had drawn the attention of three men further down the bar, who were now regarding them with interest. Holly hoped they weren’t going to try and hit on them. Deciding the men might need some discouragement, Holly took Gail’s hand and, drawing her to her side, kissed her, lingering a little as she released Gail’s bottom lip. It caused Gail to smile and lean down to kiss Holly again.

‘Oh please,’ Lisa whined drawing out the please, ‘we’re in public. Get a room.’

Gail shot her a look.

‘You were saying about Fiona Vincent?’ she asked innocently, ‘I don’t think the guy at the end of the bar heard what exactly it is she can do with her tongue.’

Lisa reddened and began to splutter and Holly couldn’t help laughing this time. It was kind of reassuring these two were back to their usual sparring. 

‘You’re as bad as Gail,’ Lisa huffed at Holly.

‘Yep,’ Holly smiled as she linked her arms around Gail’s waist and pulled her even closer, ‘I must be perfect then.’

‘Oh god, I do need another drink,’ Lisa said, a look of disgust on her face which even Gail could tell was feigned, ‘what’d you say, one more for the road.’

‘Only if you tell us how Elaine set you up with Fiona Vincent,’ Holly said.

‘Yeah, that’s a story I want to hear,’ Gail rubbed her hands together, ‘and for the record Lisa, if you want to adopt my mother I won’t stand in your way.’

‘If you knew my mother,’ Lisa said as she signaled the bartender for refills, ‘you’d know how tempting that offer actually is.’

Gail looked at Lisa skeptically.

‘Oh yeah,’ Lisa nodded, ‘controlling, manipulative, elitist doesn’t even cover it. Vacuous could be a good word too.’ 

While Lisa was speaking, the bartender placed their drinks on the counter. 

‘You know, I think I would have preferred it if my father had married Elaine,’ Lisa mused.

Gail couldn’t help it. Even though she supposed to be savoring it, she’d just taken a good-sized swig of tequila and, at the mention of Elaine marrying Stewart Gordon, immediately did a spit take.

‘Damn,’ Gail said as she regarded the liquid, which was now forming little rivulets on the countertop, ‘that was the good stuff too.’

‘You are insane, you know that, right’ Holly said to Gail, shaking her head but sounding amused and fond.

‘If Elaine had married my father that would freakishly make us sisters, or do I mean freakish sisters,’ Lisa slurred, not seeming to have registered the spit take. 

It made Holly realize Lisa was drunker than she appeared. She was grateful Gail didn’t have a mouthful of tequila. Now though, Gail’s eyes went wide and she hastily tipped the shot glass up and slammed the rest of the liquid down her throat.

‘Another?’ Lisa gestured to the shot glass and Gail nodded mutely.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

 

The following morning Holly groaned and pulled the pillow over her head as the alarm rang through the bedroom, shrill and insistent and annoyingly in time with the dull pounding against her skull. Gail lifted the corner of the pillow and Holly regarded her through slitted eyes.

‘Not feeling too good,’ Gail asked and placed a gentle kiss on Holly’s forehead.

‘Why did you let me drink so much,’ Holly groaned again, ‘you know I’m not a drinker.’

Gail chuckled. ‘No one was forcing you, Holly,’ she teased, ‘but you know about my full proof hangover cure.’ As she spoke, Gail ran her fingers lightly across Holly’s back.

‘We don’t have time. I need to be at work and isn’t Becca due here soon.’

‘Not for at least another hour, and given how hard you’ve been working, I think you can give yourself a late mark nerd.’

‘Is that so,’ Holly pulled the pillow off her head and turned to regard Gail with a pout, which Gail had to admit was adorable. She leant down to kiss Holly, just a soft press of the lips and then she pulled back and smiled down at her.

‘And?’ Holly challenged, turning to face Gail, ‘there has to be more to the cure than that.’

‘Oh much, much more,’ Gail said, leaning in again to kiss Holly, this time with more vigor. She trailed a hand up along Holly’s thigh to the top of her boy shorts before slipping it beneath the waistband.

‘No preamble?’

‘No time,’ Gail said, easing Holly onto her back and then moving down to take Holly’s nipple in her mouth. 

Holly pushed her boy shorts off and then tugged at Gail’s until Gail broke off from what she was doing and assisted in removing them. Then Holly pulled Gail flush against her, and there was a frenzy of lips and teeth and tongues. Quite quickly Holly forgot her pounding head and instead was overtaken by the feel of Gail against her and the breathy sounds filling the room because they couldn’t help but be vocal with one another. Then the friction became too much for Holly and she guided Gail’s hand down, gasping as she felt two fingers slip inside her. Holly knew then this wasn’t going to be quick but she was beyond caring.

They had just showered and dressed when Becca showed up. She didn’t make any comment about their wet hair but expressed delight Holly hadn’t yet left for work. 

‘Lisa was right,’ Becca clapped her hands together, ‘this is a gorgeous house. Can I have a tour?’

Yep, Becca was direct, Gail thought as she looked across at Holly whose eyes widened ever so slightly but not enough for Becca to notice. The bed upstairs was unmade, and not just untucked, it bore all the signs of their recent activity, and then the bedroom itself smelt unmistakably of sex.

‘Ah, why don’t we start in the kitchen,’ Gail said, ‘I’ll make you a coffee and then you can have the full tour.’

‘Yeah, good plan,’ Holly said, ‘I just need to get something from upstairs.’ 

With that she bolted for the stairs. If Becca thought something was amiss she didn’t let on.

Holly left for work just before Roger the sleazy realtor arrived.

‘This is my daughter’s partner, Gail Peck,’ Becca said to Roger. 

‘Miss Peck,’ Roger held out his hand, and when Gail shook it, it was a little limp and a little warm, and Roger was a little too familiar in the way he held Gail’s hand a little too long.

‘Detective Peck.’

‘Detective, as in police detective?’ 

Gail nodded.

‘So will you cuff me if I’m a bad boy?’ Roger said, his smarmy smile making it clear he thought his flirtatiousness charming rather than sleazy.

Gail fixed him with a glacial look and Roger at least had the good grace to momentarily falter and then suggest they get going.

As Becca passed Gail she murmured, ‘perhaps you could do that police check after all.’

Gail smiled. ‘I guarantee we’d find a reason to arrest him.’

‘Is sleaziness an offence?’ Becca asked as she followed Roger down the porch steps to his car.

The first house was big and rambling, too big really for Kurt and Becca. Six bedrooms and a study. Roger of course didn’t take no for an answer.

‘You’ll never regret having room for visitors. Room for grandchildren,’ he said, with a wink in Gail’s direction. 

‘Roy,’ Gail said sweetly, ‘is this rot?’ She’d opened a cupboard door next to the first floor bathroom and now pointed to the clearly rotten floorboards.

‘Roger,’ he said.

‘So it is rot,’ Gail said, raising an eyebrow.

‘No, I didn’t say that.’ Roger said, starting to sound flustered.

‘You said roger. I thought that meant yes.’

‘No my name is Roger.’

‘Okay,’ Gail said doubtfully, ‘but this is rot.’

Roger peered over her shoulder into the cupboard.

‘Probably just a leaking tap in the bathroom. An easy fix.’

‘Yeah?’ Gail lifted the carpet, which ended just inside the cupboard door, and made a face, ‘looks extensive to me Rory.’

‘Roger,’ the realtor began to say but Becca cut across him.

‘If there’s rot, we’re not interested, Ryan. Can we see the next house?’ 

Gail smiled. Becca seemed to have picked up on the name game.

‘It’s actually Roger,’ the realtor tried again, but the two women had already swept passed him and down the corridor to the front door.

The second house was nice. 

‘Extremely livable,’ Becca said, ‘but isn’t this a busy street?’ 

They were standing on the front porch, which Gail conceded was inviting with enough room for a few chairs and even a little table. She could imagine sitting out here on a warm summer’s night but for the fact the house was located on a major thoroughfare.

‘No,’ Roger reassured Becca, ‘very quiet, it’s mainly residential traffic.’

‘I used to patrol this street when I was in uniform, and it was like a car park in peak hour,’ Gail said.

‘Traffic has been diverted from this road in recent years.’

‘Rick, it’s not that long since I was in uniform,’ Gail said.

Just then a siren sounded. A moment later a fire engine sped past, its lights flashing and its siren sounding ne-naw ne-naw over and over.

‘Oh, and there’s a fire station just round the corner,’ Gail said.

The third house was pokey and dark and Becca ruled it out immediately. After that she and Gail parted ways with Roger, asking him to drop them back at Gail’s first.

‘Was that a bit wicked, us tormenting Roger,’ Becca asked once they were inside.

‘Possibly,’ Gail said, ‘but I think he deserved it.’

‘Absolutely,’ Becca agreed and they both laughed.

Gail bit her lip and seemed to be considering something.

‘You know there’s a house for sale two streets up. It might be worth a look,’ Gail said.

‘You’d want us to live that close?’ Becca asked, her expression part curious part amused and so very like Holly’s.

Gail shrugged. Strangely she felt okay about the idea. No way she’d ever want to live in such proximity to Elaine but the prospect of Holly’s parents being practically neighbors did not actually fill her with dread.

‘Holly would like it,’ she said.

‘And it would be very convenient for babysitting the grandchildren,’ Becca smirked and they both laughed.

‘As long as it has plenty of room for them,’ Gail said.

‘That place had six bedrooms. Just how many children did Roger think you planned on having,’ Becca laughed again and Gail rolled her eyes.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

 

When Holly returned home from work, she found Gail and Becca in the kitchen making dinner. The expression thick as thieves crossed her mind as Holly walked in on the tail end of a very embarrassing story about how when she was ten she used to corral her younger cousins together and make them do science experiments.

‘They had to call her Professor Holly,’ Becca said, ‘but they did have fun even if Professor Holly insisted that each visit they learn at least one thing about the wonders of science.’ In fact Holly was so drawn to teaching, Becca had been convinced she would become an academic. There was still time, she supposed.

Gail started laughing, ‘I can just see it.’

‘And one of those cousins is now an astrophysicist,’ Holly said.

‘Oh hey,’ Gail said noticing Holly. She was still laughing as she kissed her. ‘You really were a nerd.’ Which made Becca laugh as well. Holly resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

‘Your folks are staying for dinner,’ Gail said casually. 

‘Oh,’ Holly said. Gail actually sounded happy about that. It should surprise her. Twenty-four hours ago it would have, but that was before her girlfriend had pulled out all stops to charm the pants off her parents. With a little help from Lisa, she had to allow. 

‘Yes, Kurt’s just stepped out to get champagne,’ Becca said, ‘to celebrate. We’ve made an offer on a house.’

‘Really,’ Holly said excitedly, ‘so the sleazy realtor was helpful after all.’

‘No I can categorically say he was completely unhelpful,’ Gail said, ‘sleazy though. Becca was right about that. No it’s that house on Palma Street. You know the two story one.’

‘You took my mother there?’ Holly said, unable to conceal the note of wonder in her voice.

‘It’s absolutely wonderful,’ Becca enthused, ‘needs some work but Gail says she knows a very good architect.’

‘Olivia, it’s one of her exes,’ Holly said without thinking because she was so distracted by the fact Gail had voluntarily shown her mother a house two streets away.

‘Oh,’ Becca raised her eyebrows, ‘so Holly’s not the only woman you’ve had a relationship with?’

‘Mom,’ Holly said, with that mixture of indignation and caution of someone very used to her mother being blunt to the point of overstepping. 

‘Yeah,’ Gail said a little warily, not sure how she should answer this question, ‘while Holly was in San Francisco. Nothing really serious though, because well, Holly.’

‘Well, that’s a relief,’ Becca said.

‘A relief?’ Holly asked, confused.

‘That Gail’s gay. That this isn’t some kind of experiment.’

‘Oh definitely gay,’ Gail said, looping her arms around Holly’s waist, ‘Holly was no experiment, although she did introduce me to the wonders of,’

Holly clamped her hand over Gail’s mouth.

‘I was going to say forensic science,’ Gail protested as Holly removed her hand, ‘anyway Becca, after Holly there was no turning back.’

‘And I probably shouldn’t ask why,’ Becca said teasingly.

‘No,’ Holly agreed, ‘there are some things even you don’t need to know Mom.’

Kurt knocking on the front door stopped any further discussion on the topic. Holly wasn’t sure which of the three women was more relieved – herself, her mother or Gail.

Later that night, after Becca and Kurt had left, Gail turned to Holly and pronounced, ‘Your parents are cool.’

‘Yeah,’ Holly said, ‘not weird misguided hippies.’

‘No,’ Gail said, furrowing her brow as if that thought couldn’t be further from her mind, ‘I like them.’

‘And they like you. I can tell. But wait until my dad starts holding forth about police brutality. He can be just as outspoken as my mother.’

‘Pfft. I can handle that. Holly you forget I was raised by wolves.’

‘Ha. That must have been confusing for a cat.’

‘You have no idea.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

‘We should get a Christmas tree,’ Chloe said, ‘Christmas is like two weeks away and we don’t have any decorations up.’

It was one morning about a week after Kurt and Becca’s visit. Chloe and Gail were seated at the kitchen table eating breakfast, and Holly was over at the sink. Gail regarded Chloe sourly. Could the muppet bounce any higher out of her chair?

‘I don’t do Christmas,’ Gail said.

‘And why is that Scrooge?’ Chloe asked.

Gail shrugged and looked down at her plate.

‘Oh shoot,’ Chloe said, her eagerness now replaced by a look of anguish, ‘you weren’t allowed to celebrate Christmas.’

Holly turned from her position at the sink and regarded Gail with concern.

‘Well, we got to open our presents but then Elaine made us go around and give them to less fortunate kids.’

‘That’s,’ Chloe stopped, at a loss for words, ‘actually that’s kind of criminal.’

Gail shrugged again.

Holly tilted her head to one side and regarded Gail for a moment. Then her lips twitched. ‘Was that before or after you served up Christmas dinner in the homeless shelters?’

Gail gave another shrug.

‘Or sang Christmas carols at the nursing homes? That’s how Gail discovered she could really sing,’ Holly said as an aside to Chloe.

‘Man, no wonder you hate Christmas,’ Chloe spluttered, sympathy and outrage tumbling together.

Holly started laughing and then Gail did too.

‘What?’ Chloe asked.

‘She’s just bullshitting,’ Holly said.

‘So none of those things are true?’

‘Nope,’ Gail said, popping the p, ‘what sort of monster do you think Elaine is? Actually don’t answer that.’

‘Okay, I’m going to shower,’ Chloe said, rising out of her chair. When she reached the door, she stopped and turned, ‘you shouldn’t joke about Christmas.’ Then she left.

‘Oops,’ Gail said.

Holly suppressed a smile. ‘So spill Scrooge. Why don’t you do Christmas?’

‘Peace and goodwill it’s all bullshit,’ Gail said, ‘and families getting together and pretending to be all happy. I don’t need to tell you Holly, the statistics for domestic violence spike over the holiday period.’

‘Okay,’ Holly said as if she were considering something, ‘and you haven’t had a family to celebrate with for a while now.’

‘It was never much anyway. Bill and Elaine would have their stupid Christmas Eve party to impress the bigwigs and Steve and I would be paraded out like prize show ponies. At some point in the evening at least one disgusting drunk old guy would put his hand on my ass.’

‘Jeez,’ Holly, ‘what did you do?’

‘I got very good at stepping really close and stomping down hard on their toes and then smiling sweetly. They usually didn’t bother me after that.’ 

So Christmas was about duty after all, Holly thought. They had joked about it just then, but of course Elaine wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to impress, even if it meant her daughter had to endure the unwanted attentions of some sleazy drunkard.

‘There was one thing I loved,’ Gail said, ‘decorating the tree. Elaine and I always did it together, right from when I was little.’

‘So why didn’t you say yes to a tree when Chloe suggested it?’ 

‘We don’t have any decorations,’ Gail said, as if this were the most obvious thing.

‘Honey, we can buy some,’ Holly said gently. By now she had come to sit next to Gail, and she took Gail’s hand in her own and ran her thumb across it.

Gail remembered the excitement of retrieving the Christmas boxes from the attic, and lugging them downstairs. Then gently extracting the decorations - the baubles and tinsel and little figurines - from within the layers of tissue paper where they’d been carefully placed when the tree from last Christmas was dismantled. 

There was a magic to rediscovering each object and often a history to go with them too, which Elaine would obligingly recite each year. It was one of the few times Elaine was content to be still with Gail. There was a softness to her mother in that moment, an unhurriedness and placidity Gail rarely, if ever, saw.

‘Decorations have histories,’ Gail stated adamantly, ‘you can’t just go and buy them all new.’

‘Okay,’ Holly agreed, an idea forming in her head, ‘but Gail when we celebrate Christmas we won’t need to pretend. It will be all about love and peace and goodwill.’

‘Yeah, of course nerd,’ Gail said, again as if this were so obvious it need not be said.

‘And families aren’t just biological. We can choose who we want to celebrate Christmas with.’

‘You are too wise,’ Gail teased, and leant over to kiss Holly, ‘just remember I hate people.’  
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

'We need to wait on the toxicology reports to be sure,' Rodney said, 'but it looks like he died from natural causes.' 

He gestured to the man on the slab in front of him. Rodney guessed he'd died about two weeks ago. The body was no longer bloated but had collapsed so it looked almost flattened. The flesh had taken on a creamy consistency, although the parts of the body that were exposed were discolored black. Which, Holly had once explained to Gail, was why this stage of decomposition was called black putrefaction. The strong smell of decay coming off the body filled the lab, and even though Gail was just an observer, she felt like the odor had permeated her clothing.

Gail blew out a breath.

'Would you prefer foul play?' Rodney asked.

Gail shook her head.

'Nope. Just hate the thought of this guy dying all alone and no one noticed.'

Rodney nodded. 'Yeah, it's sad alright.'

A couple of days after the Christmas tree conversation, Gail and Chloe picked up a routine case. The old man was found after neighbors started complaining about the stench coming from his apartment. When the police broke down the door, it was clear he'd been dead for weeks. Paul Hansen. Aged 82. Lived alone. None of the neighbors knew if he had relatives. ‘No one ever visited him,’ one of them shrugged. If it took them so long to notice Hansen’s absence would they have registered any visitors, Gail wondered?

As Gail exited the autopsy suite, Holly was making her way up the corridor. Her arms where piled high with folders. That's right, Gail remembered, the budget meeting. It had been stressing Holly out for the last few days. Give her a body any day over finances.

'Hey,' Holly greeted Gail as they drew nearer, 'here for the autopsy on your apartment guy.'

'Yeah, Rodney doesn't think it's suspicious.'

'That's good, right,' Holly said, trying to shift the files into one arm so she could push her glasses back up her nose.

'Here,' Gail said, relieving her of the folders. 

Holly smiled her thanks and adjusted her glasses.

'Yes and no,' Gail said.

Holly looked at her questioningly and then realized Gail was referring to the old man from the apartment.

'He was dead for at least two weeks and no one noticed, Holly. No one noticed.'

'I had a case in San Francisco where the person was dead four months before she was discovered. The neighbors didn't even think to question why the mail was piling up.'

Gail made a face. 'I don't want to trade worse case stories.'

Holly really looked at Gail then and saw something she couldn’t quite describe. Was it anguish? She hadn’t noticed at first because she’d been distracted by the budget meeting which started in exactly three minutes.

'Okay,' Holly said gently, 'but something about this guy's death has upset you.'

'It's just so depressing,’ Gail bit her lip, ‘that guy was completely alone when he died. No family. No friends. No one noticed he was gone. It’s wrong.’

‘Maybe he wasn’t a very nice person. Maybe he drove people away.’

Gail regarded Holly for a moment, her expression unreadable.

‘If you hadn’t come back one day I would have died a sad, bitter, lonely old woman,’ Gail said quietly.

Holly tilted her head to one side, an understanding smile starting at one corner of her lips.

‘Honey,’ she said, uncharacteristically using a term of endearment at work, ‘you know that’s.’

Holly was about to say you know that’s not true. You have plenty of friends. Good, good friends. A sometimes psycho mother, but underneath she cares. And Steve. And if Holly hadn’t come back there might have been someone else. And every single one of them would be sounding the alarm if Gail was AWOL for even 24 hours. Holly was about to say all these things but Dr Carral chose that moment to appear in the corridor.

He greeted Gail warmly and then turned to Holly. ‘Don’t worry about next week. I’ve juggled the roster to cover you while you’re in San Francisco. Sorry to hurry you,’ he said with an apologetic glance in Gail’s direction, ‘but I have an appointment with the Commissioner directly after this so we need to start the meeting on time. Nice seeing you Detective Peck.’ With that he strode off in the direction of the conference room.

‘San Francisco?’ Gail asked.

‘Yeah, I was going to tell you tonight. The Apps trial was brought forward. I fly out on Monday. Hopefully it shouldn’t take more than a few days.’

‘But it’s practically Christmas,’ Gail said.

‘It’s still ten days away,’ Holly pointed out.

‘How come when you went to San Francisco you never had to come back to Toronto to give evidence?’

‘Who said I didn’t,’ Holly said a little absently because she’d noticed her assistant Sally standing at the door to the conference room and urgently motioning her. Damn the meeting was about to start. ‘Look I have to go to this meeting. We’ll talk tonight, okay?’ Holly focused back on Gail and was not the least prepared for what she saw. First a look of hurt flashed across Gail’s face, just for the briefest of moments, before her face literally closed off. Gail took a step back, the action a physical expression of her withdrawal. It caught Holly off guard.

‘Uh Gail, my files,’ Holly said. 

Without saying a word, Gail unceremoniously dumped them in Holly’s arms.

‘Gail, I’m sorry,’ Holly began.

‘Later,’ Gail said, ‘go to your meeting.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Gail was steadily firing her Glock. Arms extended, one hand on the handle of the gun with a finger on the trigger, the other hand steadying it. The center of the target in front of her was peppered with holes. She was wearing earmuffs so she hadn’t heard Holly come in, but when she finished firing off a round, she turned slightly to reload. If she was surprised to see Holly she didn’t show it. She just finished reloading and fired off another round, every bullet hitting the middle of the target. 

Holly hated guns. Hated the smell. Hated their loudness. Hated the violence of them, knowing all too well the damage a gun could do. But damn if there wasn’t something incredibly hot about Gail Peck with a gun in her hands, legs planted firmly, hands gripping the gun with such ease, her movements as she fired sure and confident.

When she finally finished firing, Gail put the safety on and, removing her earmuffs, turned around completely to face Holly. She didn’t speak. Holly waited a beat and realized she was the one who’d have to begin.

‘Chloe said I’d find you here.’ 

Gail nodded.

‘Are you mad at me.’

Gail shook her head.

‘Upset?’

Gail pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. ‘Yes. No. Maybe. I’m not sure. I’m just being stupid.’

‘Gail, trust me you are not stupid.’

Gail considered that for a moment and then blurted out. ‘How come you never once came to see me when you were in Toronto for a trial?’

‘We agreed it was best not to contact each other. To stay away. I thought that’s what you wanted.’

‘Holly if I’d gone to San Francisco for some reason there is no way I could have stayed away from you.’

Holly sighed. ‘I know. That was the problem. If I’d seen you we would have ended up having sex and then I’d have gone back to San Francisco and you would have hated me for upending your life and we both would have hated each other for choosing to live in different cities, for being unwilling to give us a chance.’

‘I could never hate you, Holly,’ Gail sad quietly.

‘You might have.’

Gail shook her head. 'How come I never ran into you?'

'The cases were with other divisions. No one from 15 knew I was here. I stayed at Rachel’s and kept a low profile. But Gail, I lost count of the times I almost called, started to dial your number and then stopped myself. And not just when I was in Toronto either.’

Gail had been staring at her feet, chewing her lip. Now when she glanced up, she looked so vulnerable and hurt it made Holly’s heart break a little.

'Why didn't you call?'

'Because I, we'd agreed and I would have blurted out that I loved you and because I didn't know,' Holly stopped.

'Didn't know if I was ready. If I felt the same way. If you were just opening yourself up for more heartache.'

Holly nodded ruefully.

'You were right. I wasn't ready. I did feel the same way, you know that right.' Holly nodded. 'But I wasn't ready. You remember when we first talked at the conference in Chicago and you asked whether I thought we wouldhave worked if you'd stayed in Toronto and I said we would have imploded.'

Holly nodded.

'Because I wasn't ready,' Gail said.

'And I wasn't brave enough.'

Gail looked at Holly quizzically, not understanding.

'Brave enough to commit. I'd never felt so much for someone, never fallen so hard and then it was,’ Holly pursed her lips as she considered how best to explain.

'And it was tumultuous. I was a brat. Not exactly someone you'd want to stake a future on.'

'Oh, Gail,' Holly said, sadly because she felt none of those things now, but just like everyone else she had left Gail, even if it broke her heart to do so. And who was Holly kidding? She might not have put it in words like Nick when he told Gail she wasn’t the girlfriend type, but her actions said it. Back then Holly hadn’t been willing to chance a future on Gail. Easier to convince herself San Francisco was her only option than take a risk on a woman who by her own admission was incapable of an adult relationship, who had shredded Holly’s heart and might do so again. 

Today for some reason the hurt of all that had resurfaced for Gail. Raw and gnawing. Even though Gail knew how much Holly loved her. Even though Holly had told her how she had spent two years regretting her decision to leave and even though she had come back for Gail, the hurt was still there. 

It was something, Holly realized, they had never talked about. They'd skirted around it but never actually discussed it, probably fearful of bringing up old hurts, and for Gail insecurities and patterns she was moving past. They had talked at length about what happened before Holly left, what went wrong and why, and they’d been candid about their feelings for each other. Yet they had never spoken about why in that two years neither had tried to contact the other. Holly could guess why Gail hadn’t. Her leaving would have reinforced all Gail’s doubts about herself, that she wasn’t worthy or capable of love.

‘I was a coward,’ Holly said.

'No, you weren’t a coward, Holly. I was a mess. You deserved better. And you’re right, by leaving you made it possible for us to eventually have a relationship. It just hurt, hearing you'd been in Toronto and I didn't know and you didn't call and then the guy in the apartment.'

Holly understood then. Gail’s at times weird associations usually made sense to Holly eventually, even if sometimes it took her a little longer to work through the connections.

'You are not,' Holly said advancing towards Gail and looping her arms around her waist, 'you are not going to end up some sad, sorry old woman. Not if I have anything to do with it.’ Holly leaned in then and kissed Gail gently.

‘Thank you,’ Gail breathed into Holly’s neck, then pulling back said, ‘we should get out of here.’

‘Had enough of shooting things for today?’ Holly teased.

‘I guess, but there are a bunch of rookies from 27 staring at us.’

‘Good.’

Instead of removing her arms from around Gail, Holly leaned in again and kissed her for a second time.

‘Good? That’s not exactly going to help keep our relationship low key at work.’

‘Good,’ Holly said again and kissed Gail once more, ‘cause I want everyone to know the very awesome Gail Peck is my girlfriend.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Hey Price, ‘ Gail said as Chloe entered the detective’s pen, ‘we’ve got an address for Paul Hansen’s son. He changed his name. Colin Patterson.’

‘Is that why it took so long to track him down?’

Gail nodded.

‘Should we send some uniforms over to inform him?’

‘Nope. I want to do this myself. I feel like I owe it to Hansen, dying alone like that. Plus I want to see what kind of son doesn’t notice his father has died.’

‘Gail, there might be a good reason. Could be why he changed his name.’

Gail shrugged. ‘Yep, well let’s find out.’

Uncharacteristically, Gail asked Chloe to drive and took the passenger seat. Chloe knew it was so Gail could check her phone.

‘Any word from Holly?’ Chloe asked as they headed out.

Gail shook her head. Holly was due to fly back from San Francisco this morning but her plane had been grounded due to engine trouble. When it became clear the problem wasn’t an easy fix, the airline was forced to find seats for all four hundred passengers on other flights. Not an easy task two days before Christmas and when most of the four hundred were tired, irate and demanding.

‘Don’t they have, I dunno, a back-up plane or something,’ Gail had asked Holly.

‘Apparently not,’ Holly had laughed, ‘but they seem to be prioritizing people with kids who need to get home for Christmas.’

Gail sighed. What if Holly didn’t get home for Christmas? No way the day would be full of cheer and goodwill. It hit her then just how much she had been looking forward to waking up on Christmas day with Holly, to making the day their own, with their own traditions and stories, the anecdotes told over and over at every single Christmas. Gail smiled at that thought.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Colin Patterson was in his mid forties. He was a neat sort of man, with pressed trousers, shiny shoes and not a hair out of place, and the healthy glow of someone who took care of himself. He’d ushered the two detectives into the living room, but Gail could see through to the kitchen where two little children, toddlers really, were happily playing and Colin’s wife had started to prepare dinner.

‘‘So I’ll need to organize a funeral, I guess,’ Colin said after Gail informed him of his father’s death. He didn’t seem the least bit upset his father had lain undiscovered for weeks.

‘Yes,’ Chloe said gently, giving him the benefit of the doubt. Grief was a tricky thing. People reacted differently. ‘His body should be released in the next day.’

‘Just in time for Christmas,’ Colin said bitterly.

‘When did you last see your father?’ Gail asked.

‘Seven years ago,’ Colin blew out a breath.

‘So you weren’t close?’

‘My father was a bastard. Actually he was a bigot. He hated that my wife is Chinese and he disowned my brother for being gay. All he did was criticize. Nothing my brother or me did was ever right. We never lived up to his expectations. My mother tempered him a little but after she died he became impossible.’

‘Is that why you changed your last name?’

Colin nodded. ‘Once my mother passed I didn’t want to be associated with him anymore in any way. It was kind of liberating to cast off his name.’

This time it was Gail who nodded. Chloe wondered if it was in recognition. If anyone knew about the weight a name could carry it was Gail.

‘Look, I know you’re judging me for letting him die alone, but eventually you can’t live like that, you can’t take that kind of abuse anymore. It destroys you.’

‘I get that,’ Gail said.

‘I didn’t want my kids around that kind of poison.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

When they got back into the car, Gail checked her phone again.

‘No word from Holly?’ Chloe asked.

‘Maybe she’ll be stranded there for Christmas,’ Gail said gloomily.

‘Holly will get here, Gail. She’ll walk from San Francisco if she has too.’

‘I hardly think so. That’s 3,641 kilometers Price.’

‘Is that from your house to her old apartment or just the center of Toronto to the center of San Francisco?’ Chloe asked, knowing Gail must have googled it. She wondered if that was before or after Gail and Holly got back together.

Gail turned to Chloe with a vexed expression.

‘What?’ Chloe asked, ‘It’s so cute you know the exact distance.’

Gail fixed her with a baleful look. ‘Not cute and we are not talking about this anymore,’ she said.

‘I just know nothing will keep you and Holly apart,’ Chloe said cheerfully ignoring the glare.

Gail rolled her eyes. ‘Oh look Chloe,’ she said in a voice both sweet and sarcastic, ‘there’s Bambi. The hunter just shot his mother. You better go comfort him.’

‘Boy that film was tragic. I literally cried for a month after I saw it.’

‘When was that. Last week?’

‘Ha ha. Very funny, Gail. I was five. Up until then it never occurred to me you could actually, you know, lose your mother. It was devastating.’

‘Whereas I found the idea quite comforting,’ Gail said dryly. 

Which Chloe knew wasn’t true. One time, when Gail was being uncharacteristically open about her parents, she told Chloe up until she was around six her parents were quite relaxed, fun even. Then it all stopped and the exPecktations took over. 

As with a real princess, being born into police royalty brought with it certain obligations or so Elaine Peck maintained. Chloe remembered her godfather Frank shaking his head sadly and saying ‘Gail Peck didn’t have much of a childhood.’ It was not long after Chloe transferred to 15 and Gail had already made clear her antipathy to Chloe’s perkiness. 

The fact was, Chloe thought, Gail had endured more betrayals, more disappointments and even horror than most. From losing Holly to Steve’s corruption and her father’s duplicity, to the interminable travails of an uber controlling mother to the unthinking, almost casual betrayals of her friends and then of course Perick, it was an unrelenting barrage which would have broken a lesser person. 

Chloe sensed Gail wanted none of these things to define her. She was aware Gail regularly saw a therapist, hard not to notice these things when you lived in the same house. Even so, it was amazing Gail was as well adjusted as she was. Chloe knew Holly was a big reason. She brought out the best in Gail. Made her want to be that better person, capable of trust and love. 

Chloe knew these things and so forgave Gail her tetchiness, and refused to be rebuffed by the snark, and by the pessimism, which in truth was becoming less and less a feature of Gail’s disposition. A sunny outlook? No, definitely not, but Gail was more content, more settled within herself than when Chloe first met her. Indeed Chloe would go so far as to say Gail Peck had become something of an optimist. Even if the woman in question would never admit it.

‘Holly will be here for Christmas,’ Chloe said with certainty, ‘if she’s not I promise I’ll stop being cheerful for a week.’

‘Now that’s something I’d like to see,’ Gail said, her face lighting up, ‘it would almost be worth Holly not making it back.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

As they walked back into the station, Chloe excused herself, saying she had a doctor’s appointment.

‘Remember I told you last week, Gail,’ Chloe said.

Gail stopped suddenly. ‘It’s not to do with you know,’ she pointed to her own head to indicate where was Chloe shot.

‘Oh no,’ Chloe reassured her brightly, ‘just a regular check-up.’

Gail had stayed back to do paperwork. Once Rodney got the toxicology reports, they’d be able to sign off on this case. Then Colin Patterson could bury his father. It wouldn’t be until after Christmas though. Rodney had just sent an email saying, being the holiday season, the lab was backed up and suspected murder cases were getting priority. An old man dying of natural causes went to the back of the queue. Gail sighed once more. Seemed like nothing to do with her was being prioritized today.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Gail tried calling Holly before she left work but Holly’s phone just went to messages. Maybe that was a good sign. Maybe Holly was on a flight right now and hadn’t had a chance to text her. Maybe she was just being too hopeful, Gail thought. As she pulled up outside her house, she noticed lights on. Probably just Chloe.

Once out of the car, Gail pulled her coat collar up against the cold. Minus three this morning. It didn’t feel much warmer now. She trudged up the porch steps. She knew she shouldn’t give into despondency but she couldn’t help it. 

As she reached the porch, the front door was flung open and there was Holly, a big grin on her face and a Santa hat on her head. Gail didn’t say anything. She simply crossed the porch and pulled Holly into a crushing hug, and when she finally released her said simply ‘thank god you’re here.’ And Holly gave her that adorable lop-sided smile.

‘I tried to call when I got a flight but my phone died and then there was no time if I wanted to make the flight,’ Holly said, ‘but I would have walked if I had had too, all 3,641 kilometers,’

‘Geez, that’s what Price said,’ Gail huffed before pulling Holly into a kiss. Holly put her arms around her neck, and Gail felt herself relax into Holly and into the kiss and it might have gone on like this for some time had she not heard a piercing wolf whistle. Gail found out later Frankie was the culprit.

It was at that moment Gail became aware of Christmas carols in the background, and the low hum of voices. Then she was assailed by the distinct smell of a Christmas tree, crisp and fresh and earthy just like walking through an alpine forest. It brought with it the memory of waking up early on Christmas day, breathless with anticipation, and tearing downstairs to find her stocking; of Christmas dinners with turkey and ham and the most heavenly gravy, thick and tasting faintly of wine; of her father insisting they roast chestnuts over a roaring fire and Elaine slipping her marshmallows to toast instead; and of Steve helping her build a snowman the year they had a white Christmas in Toronto.

Chloe appeared then, smiling gleefully, and pulled Gail further into the room. Normally Gail would have resisted, but she was somewhat dazed by Holly’s return and the unexpected onslaught of memories. 

There in the middle of the room was a pine tree adprned with tinsel and flashing lights but no other decorations. This was not the most remarkable thing though. Standing around the tree were Frankie and Allanah, Dov, Chris and a waitress from the Penny he started dating a few months back, Oliver and Celery, Traci and Leo, Rachel and Luca, Lisa and Fiona Vincent, and finally Olivia and her new girlfriend. Each of them was holding up a Christmas decoration and smiling at Gail.

‘Did you organize this, Chloe’ Gail asked quietly, her usual snark completely deserting her. She couldn’t have come up with a flippant remark even if she’d wanted to.

‘Yes,’ Chloe said, ‘but it was Holly’s idea.’

‘'Not the carols,' Holly murmured so only Gail could hear.

Gail shot her an amused look but then smiled. 'That was some doctor's appointment, Chloe' she said..

Then one by one everyone told a story about their decoration and why they had thought of Gail when they chose it. Leo’s was handmade. A snowman.

‘Remember you helped me build one last year,’ he said and Gail smiled and hugged him.

Then Holly handed Gail a package with a US postmark.

‘It’s from Becca,’ she said.

Inside was a gold star, obviously old, a little tarnished, but clearly treasured. A simple card was attached and Becca had written, ‘We bought this star the year Holly was born. Growing up it was her favorite decoration- she loved it and she loves you, so now you should have it.’

Gail stared at the card, unable to speak. To say she was overwhelmed by emotions would be understating it. And it wasn’t just Becca’s words, or the meaning they conveyed, no it was also the love of all these other friends. Because they were friends, even Lisa in a strange sort of way, and Holly was right, Gail wasn’t going to end up a sad sorry old woman.

‘Are you alright honey,’ Holly murmured.

‘Perfect,’ Gail said, ‘and this star should go on the top of the tree.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a fairly drama free chapter. There will be a case next time. Is Paul Hansen’s death as straightforward as it appears? Or will it be a whole new crime.
> 
> I probably won't update this until after the New Year as I'm going on holiday tomorrow and the internet is sporadic where I'm staying and then there are all those holiday things to distract me.


	35. Thirty-five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….
> 
> I know it’s a few days late, but Happy New Year to everyone. 
> 
> Thanks as always for the comments, kudos, bookmarks and subscriptions and of course reading. It is so great to get your comments and does inspire me to keep writing. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter. We’re back with a body, of sorts, and a crime that feels a bit like it is of Gail’s own making. Apologies for any mistakes – spellcheck can only do so much!

Six severed heads, can you believe that Frankie,’ Gail said, 'six severed heads. Why can't anything like that happen around here.'

'Really, you'd want that kind of trouble here,' Frankie raised an eyebrow, 'do you need a break from your girlfriend?'

'No,' Gail screwed up her face in irritation, 'what are you talking about Anderson?'

'Six severed heads equals serious overtime for Holly. Not to mention the detectives working the case.'

'Oh,' Gail scowled. She hadn't thought about that. Although she bet Holly had never autopsied a severed head. Holly would have told her for sure, knowing all too well Gail's penchant for the macabre.

'What case,' Chloe asked as she came into the detective's pen. She had bounced in, no strike that Gail thought, bounded in like a puppy, all over eager and peppy. Which was kind of obscene considering it was 26th of December and they were back at work. 

Not that anything was happening. Gail was up to date with her paperwork and had filed every thing that needed filing. If Frankie knew she had nothing to do, the senior detective would probably make her rake over some obscure cold case. Now much as Gail was dedicated to her job and would love to crack a cold case, it was the day after Christmas and she had to work, so she was checking her newsfeed instead. 

It was the 26th of December and she was at work because, like all the officers without kids, she usually put her hand up in the holiday season. In the past it was to avoid the Peck festivities, now she actually cared that others got to be with their families. Not that she was telling anyone that. 

'Six decapitated heads were found in Jiquilpan in Mexico on Christmas Day, 'Gail explained to Chloe, holding up her iPad to show her the story.

'So gang warfare?' Chloe asked.

'That's the speculation.'

'It's a warning to a rival gang. Somehow it's much more gruesome to find six severed heads than six bodies,' Chloe said.

'Man, Toronto's kind of tame compared to Mexico.' Gail said.

'Yeah?' Frankie raised a skeptical eyebrow, 'careful what you wish for Peck.'

.........................................................................................................................

'Well, there are a number of theories about that,' Holly said. Gail had brought her lunch and the story of the six heads, and asked if you'd remain conscious if you were decapitated.

'Of course there are theories,' Gail said, settling herself back on the couch in Holly's office in anticipation of finding out just what those theories were.

'Decapitation is a common way of euthanizing rats.’

‘Eww,’ Gail interrupted, ‘exactly how is that done?’ She briefly had an image of a lab tech in a white coat brandishing a samurai sword.

‘Well, scientists aren’t known for their swordsmanship,’ Holly said, making Gail wonder if somehow Holly knew what she’d been thinking. Surely mind reading wasn’t a nerd skill. ‘They use special rodent guillotines.’

‘Eww,’ Gail said again, ‘seriously. Like specially made?’

‘ Yep,’ Holly nodded, ‘actually some Dutch researchers decided to test if guillotining rodents was humane. So they connected an EEG machine to the brains of rats and then decapitated them. According to the EEG reading, the rat brains continued to generate electrical activity between the 13 to 100-Hertz frequency ban for about four seconds after decapitation. That frequency is associated with consciousness and cognition, in other words mental processes that include thinking.’

'So for four seconds the rats would have realized they were headless, or actually bodiless?'

'Well, that I can't say but the researchers concluded the brain can continue to produce thoughts and experience sensations for several seconds following decapitation. Hasn’t stopped scientists using this method to dispose of lab rats though.'

'Ugh,' Gail shuddered, 'that's.'

'Fascinating,' Holly suggested, 'gross.'

'Disturbing.'

Holly laughed. 'There's no proof the same thing would happen to humans and it's highly unlikely we'll ever know. I don't think anyone's going to approve a research grant to observe the effects of human decapitation.' 

Gail considered that for a moment.

'I remember reading somewhere that people guillotined during the French Revolution grimaced after being beheaded.'

'Could be involuntary muscle spasms, but both King Charles I and Queen Anne Boleyn are said to have tried to speak after they were beheaded - they were executed by sword rather than guillotined. At any rate, the brain needs oxygen to function. Decapitation immediately cuts the blood and therefore the oxygen supply to the brain, so it stops working fairly quickly.'

'Hmm,' Gail said.

'Hmm?' Holly quirked an eyebrow, 'that all you're going to say?'

'I'm processing, Holly.'

'Slow day at the office, honey,' Holly smirked.

'Yeah,’ Gail admitted.

'Well, my week in San Francisco has left me very behind so.'

'Alright, alright. I'm going.' Gail stood with such alacrity it was as if she were suddenly uncertain Holly wanted her here. Like she'd overstayed her welcome and hadn't read the signs. Holly hated that Gail still had these moments of self-doubt. She tugged on Gail's jeans, just below her knee.

'Hey,' Holly said with that lopsided smile, 'thanks for the sandwich.'

'Anytime nerd,' Gail smiled and leant down to kiss Holly, just a quick kiss but Holly took hold of Gail’s upper arms and kept her there, continuing the kiss. Eventually though they broke apart.

'I thought you had work,' Gail said.

'I do but I'd much rather be doing this,' Holly grinned, 'but go before I'm tempted to break my no sex in the office rule.'

......................................................................................................................

Gail thought it was a set-up. Like the time she and Dov pretended to be dead when Frank proposed to Noelle. 

'Some kids playing found it,' Frankie said, gesturing to the box, 'think this tops the body in the suitcase?'

Gail peered into the wooden crate. A head. It looked impossibly real. Strands of black hair were plastered across the scalp and a wispy moustache adorned the upper lip. Clearly male, white, probably mid twenties, Gail thought, instinctively going into investigative mode, and then she kicked herself. This was a set-up. 

She went to reach into the box, to pull out the head by the hair so she could tell Frankie to stop messing with her. If it hadn’t been such a slow day, Gail would have harassed her for misusing police resources. Before she could touch the head, Frankie grabbed her hand.

'Geez Peck, has that girlfriend of yours taught you nothing,' Frankie said, 'no touching before forensics get here. You're not even wearing gloves.'

'Wait, this is real,' Gail asked, searching first Frankie's and then Chloe's face for a sign it was a practical joke, half expecting them to double over with laughter any minute and for Dov to appear from somewhere recording it all on his phone. But Chloe wasn't a practical joker and both she and Frankie looked deadly serious.

'Seems like wishes do come true, Peck,' Frankie said tartly.

.............................................................................................................

Holly made her way steadily across the vacant lot. She had her red forensic kit in one hand and Natasha and Wilson in tow. Officer Robinson was by the crime scene tape and Gail noticed she and Natasha exchange a furtive smile as Robinson held up the tape for the trio to duck under. Who'd have thought that relationship would last, Gail mused, feeling somewhat chuffed it was she who had introduced the two. 

She watched as Holly and the interns picked a path through the trash, clumps of weeds, disused tires and piles of rubble littering the lot. There was even an old computer left incongruously perched atop a petrol drum. The detritus of a city. When they reached the detectives, Gail looked across at Holly sheepishly.

'This is not helping me catch up on my paperwork, Detective Peck,' Holly said drily.

'It's not like I conjured it,' Gail said.

'I dunno. All that talk of severed heads,' Frankie made a face. Holly smiled at that, which made Gail sigh elaborately.

'So I'm guessing no sign of the rest of the body?' Holly asked.

Frankie shook her head. 'Not here, at least.' She gestured to the lot, which was sandwiched between two office blocks. Across the street were a few non-descript shops. A tailors and a costume hire place and another shop selling spare auto parts. Not a flash part of town, although it was slowly undergoing the process of gentrification.

'Let's hope we find the rest of the body intact and we're not dealing with a killer who's leaving body parts in random places all over Toronto,' Holly said.

'I guess that's possible, isn't it?' Gail winced. She was beginning to wish she’d never read that articles about the six heads in Mexico. The reality of a severed head was not nearly as exciting as she had imagined.

.............................................

'He was decapitated post-mortem,' Holly said, 'you can tell because there are no signs of bleeding. The cut is clean too. It looks like a sharp blade and considerable force was used to decapitate him.’

'So any chance you can tell how he died?' Frankie asked.

'Possibly, but it would be much easier if you could get me a body. But there is enough here – brain tissue, hair, vitreous humor - to test for toxins. It’s possible he was drugged or poisoned and then beheaded.'

Frankie and Holly were back at the morgue. The head looked weird sitting there on the stainless steel slab, designed, as it was, to accommodate an entire corpse.

'Hopefully we can get an ID using dental records,' Holly said.

'Yeah, that would be a start,' Frankie sighed, 'I have a feeling this is going to be one of those dead end cases. And I blame Gail. It's like all that talk of severed heads made this happen.'

'Oh, I think our friend here was detached from his body long before Gail brought up decapitation. I'd say he's been dead three days.'

'Okay. Well, I'd better get back and see how Gail and Chloe's canvas of the neighborhood is progressing. Let me know if anything interesting turns up.'

‘Of course,’ Holly smiled.  
........................................................................................................................

Was this Frankie's punishinment for bringing up severed heads, Gail wondered as she and Chloe trudged into the third shop? They'd already spoken to the building managers from the offices on either side of the vacant lot. Neither had noticed anything unusual on the lot. In fact neither seemed to pay the lot much attention at all.

'It's owned by a developer,' one of them said, 'he knocked down the original building about six years ago. It was only a couple of stories high. He had plans to replace it with a multi-story office block but apparently went bankrupt. At least that’s what I heard.'

'Got a name?' Gail asked.

The manager shook his head. It didn't matter anyhow. Dov was back at the station looking up title deeds.

'Kids sometimes go in there. Ride their bikes. You know those BMX ones,' the tailor said, 'I don't recall seeing anyone else. Occasionally junkies but they’re mostly there at night.'

The guy behind the counter in the auto parts shop was even less helpful, although excited to be almost connected to a crime or at least in close proximity to one.

'Man, do you think the TV stations will want my story?' He asked.

Gail resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Given his story consisted of she and Chloe asking questions to which he mainly shrugged a 'dunno know', she doubted the TV news would be interested. Then again the media's capacity, in the absence of concrete information, to beat up a story, to amplify a very small something they'd made out of nothing was astonishing.

The costume shop was run by two elderly women called Elspeth and Mimi. The shop itself was tiny, but it was stuffed full of rack after rack of costumes for sale or hire. Vampire, wizard, fairy, sheriff, superhero costumes and outfits of characters from recent films including, of course, a range of Star Wars costumes. Then there were shelves of wigs and false moustaches, fairy wands, sheriff badges and fake pistols in holsters, masks, tiaras and glitter and face paint. The shop was so crowded with merchandise it was hard to find a place to stand. 

Elspeth, the older and shorter of the two, was perched on a stool behind the counter, glasses half way down her nose, peering intently at something she was sewing. A Princess Leia costume, Gail realized. Mimi, who was taller and rounder than Elspeth, appeared from the labyrinth of costume racks. The two women were, in equal measure, concerned and alarmed about the discovery on the lot. Not that Gail and Chloe had said it was a severed head. Instead they'd made vague mention of a body.

'The neighborhood is a little rundown,' Elspeth said, 'but it's always felt safe. We've been here for thirty years.'

'The tailor said junkies sometimes hang round the vacant lot,' Chloe said.

'Oh, he's always prone to exaggeration,' Mimi said.

'So you haven't noticed any unusual activity over at the lot?' Gail asked.

'No. Never seen a junkie once. But we are busy in the shop. Elspeth and I make most of the costumes by hand. So once we're here, it's just heads down and sew, sew, sew.'

'Okay, here's my card. In case you think of anything else that could help,' Gail said.

Elspeth took the card and studied it for a moment. The skin on her hands was crepey and she had slightest of tremors. Gail wondered how she could even thread a needle.

'And here,' Mimi said, handing Gail a card colored a bright purple with flowery gold writing, 'is our card. If ever you should need a custom-made costume.'

'Well that was a bust,' Gail said once she and Chloe were out on the street, 'shouldn't Mimi and Elspeth be in, I dunno, a retirement home.'

'You know Gail you're going to get old one day,' Chloe said, looking faintly amused.

'Yeah, of course,' Gail said, managing to sound scornful at Chloe's statement of the obvious and yet doubtful. She wondered where Chloe was going with this.

'Well, do you want to be shoved into some old people's home?'

Gail was saved from answering by the arrival of Frankie, who decided they needed to re-interview the two boys who had found the head.

'Holly says the victim had probably been dead three days. I want to see if the boys noticed the crate earlier,' she said.

The two boys, Jed and Mike, confirmed they had been at the lot on Christmas Eve, but were adamant the crate wasn't there.

'It was right next to one our jumps,' Jed said, referring to a mound of earth he and Mike used for dirt jumping, 'I mean we noticed it straight away today.'

Dov had better news when they returned to the station.

'The lot belongs to a small pharmaceutical research company called EquanimityPlus. They specialize in testing SSRIs.'

‘SSRIs?’ Chloe asked.

‘Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors,’ Dov supplied. Chloe looked none the wiser.

‘Anti-depressants,’ Gail said, pleased by Dov’s look of surprise and grateful for her prodigious memory. Holly had a case where a woman, who’d been dismissed from a job she’d held for most of her working life, overdosed on anti-depressants. The autopsy revealed Prozac, an SSRI, and Nortriptyline, a Tricyclic antidepressant or TCA, in the woman’s system. It was the Nortriptyline, a drug with strong sedative effects, which killed her. Holly had found lethal levels in the woman’s liver. As she told Gail, SSRIs were generally harder to overdose on.

'So why does EquanimityPlus own a vacant lot?' Frankie asked.

'I spoke to their CEO, a Frank Gimlet, and he said they had planned to build new headquarters there but held off because of a downturn in the market.'

'I thought people were getting crazier not less,' Gail said.

Dov looked at her uncomprehendingly.

'Dov, you are aware the world is becoming more insane by the minute?' When Dov finally nodded, Gail continued. 'So it stands to reason there would a rise in the demands for anti-depressants.'

'I guess,' Dov said, sounding not entirely convinced, 'anyway the other news is we've got an ID for our headless guy. John Brierly aged 25. Reported missing by his employer a week ago.'

'Geez Dov,' Frankie complained, 'why save the best until last.'

'Because it's not the best,' Dov said smugly, pausing deliberately for dramatic effect, or so it seemed to Gail. She got the impression he liked dangling this bit of information before them.

'So,' Frankie demanded, staring at Dov with such a disgruntled expression he immediately caved.

'Brierly worked as a lab technician at EquanimityPlus. They're the ones who reported him missing.'

'I don't know how you put up with him,' Gail said to Chloe, her voice sweetly sympathetic, and with an exaggerated smile that bordered on a grimace, the whole effect so insolent and so transparently insincere Frankie had to stifle a laugh. 

......….........................................................

Holly had stepped out of the morgue to get a fruit smoothie from the cafe a few blocks down the street. It was too late in the day for coffee, but she needed an excuse for some fresh air and to stretch her legs. Several hours spent doing the autopsy and several more at her desk had left Holly feeling stiff and a little irritable. She was already way behind before the severed head showed up. 

About half way back to the morgue, Holly heard her name being called and turned to see Lisa striding towards her and looking, well, content, even happy, Holly noted with surprise. Why was Lisa in this part of town? The hospital was ten blocks across and any way she had today off. Unless there was an emergency with a patient.

'What are you doing here?' Holly asked, 'don't plastic surgeons have Boxing Day off?' 

'I had a late lunch with Fiona. She had to work,' Lisa made a doleful face.

'Oh, the pitfalls of dating a public servant,' Holly teased.

'I think I'm in love,' Lisa said suddenly, 'is it too soon to say that? When did you know with Gail? It must have been early, otherwise you wouldn't have been so cut up.'

Cut up? It was such a manifestly inadequate way to describe her feelings when she and Gail split; that first time when Gail refused to take her calls or answer her texts and that second time when Holly went to San Francisco and they actually talked about it like grown-ups. Deciding to ignore Lisa's choice of words, Holly said instead, 'in love. That's got to be a first for you Lis.'

'I know right. But I can't stop thinking about Fiona. I've never actually wanted to spend this much time with anyone and oh god the sex.'

'Yeah,' Holly said, thinking she definitely did not want to yet again be regaled with tales of Lisa's sex life. Especially out here on the street. Nor, in fact, did she have the time. 'Look Lisa, I better go. I have a pile of work so.'

'Oh sure, sure. You know what. We should do dinner. You, me, Fiona and Gail. I'll check Fiona's schedule. Let you know.'

Holly smiled weakly. Oh god, there was no way Gail would agree to that. Lisa may as well invite Elaine just to cap it off. Still, something mischievous in Holly was entertained by the thought of Gail's reaction when she relayed the invitation.

'Oh, our women in blue,' Lisa said happily, seemingly unaware Holly's eyebrows had shot up in amazement. 

...................................

Frank Gimlet’s office was opulently furnished with a sizeable desk, plush chairs and a large couch. The prints on the wall were edgy, funky. Gail had the distinct impression a design consultant had made over the office, especially as it was at odds with the rest of the rather dowdy brick building that housed EquanimityPlus. The CEO must have noticed Gail’s scrutiny because he gestured to the room and said ‘my wife’s an interior decorator.’ 

Gail nodded and turned to look at Frank Gimlet, taking him in properly for the first time. His surname was fitting, given his piercing gaze, which looked like it would miss nothing. He was a big man. Over six foot, with the look of someone who had lost a lot of weight too quickly, so his flesh hung about his frame as if it were too big for it. He indicated Frankie and Gail take a seat.

‘When I spoke to Detective Epstein earlier, he said nothing about one of our employees being involved,’ Gimlet said as he sat down behind the desk.

‘We’ve just had it confirmed,’ Frankie explained, ‘did you know John Brierly well?’

‘Not at all,’ Gimlet said, ‘I have very little to do with the lab technicians. I knew him by sight only. His supervisor, Helen Marino could tell you more.’

‘And we will talk to her,’ Frankie said, ‘so any reason someone from your company would be targeted like this?’

‘None whatsoever,’ Gimlet held out his hands to indicate his puzzlement. Something about the gesture seemed forced to Gail, and she immediately wondered if he was telling the truth.

‘It is a remarkable coincidence, don’t you think, that the severed head of one of your employees was found on land you own,’ she said.

The CEO turned to her with an irritated stare and said nothing for a moment. Gail didn’t flinch. After all she’d grown up with Elaine Peck. It took more than a gimlet eye to spook her. ‘As far as I know that’s what it is. A coincidence. A chance happening,’ Gimlet finally said.

‘So nobody’s made any threats against the company. No disgruntled employee you may have sacked for example?’ Gail pressed.

Gimlet sighed. ‘No. We have a very stable workforce. You can check with our HR department if you want.’

‘What about the work Brierly was doing. Anything unusual about it?’

‘No,’ Gimlet said, doing little to disguise his annoyance, ‘we’re a small family company. We’re contracted by larger pharmaceuticals to carry out research on their behalf. I assure you there is nothing controversial about the work we do. In fact, last year we received an Ontario Small Business Award as a result of growing the company.’

‘And yet it didn’t grow enough for you to build new headquarters,’ Gail said.

‘It’s still on the cards. After the downturn, I wanted to consolidate the business first,’ Gimlet said tersely.

After that Frankie and Gail asked a few more questions but soon realized Gimlet was unable or unwilling to furnish them with any other information. Gail couldn’t quite shake the feeling he had something to hide. 

Helen Marino wasn’t much help either. Brierly was hard working, always on time, pleasant although he kept to himself and tended not to socialize with any of the other employees. It was Marino who had reported Brierly missing. He hadn’t shown up for work for three days straight and wasn’t answering his phone. Gail and Frankie were aware two uniforms had taken a look around Brierly’s apartment after the building super gave them access and found nothing suspicious. 

‘So no family?’ Frankie asked.

Helen Marino shook her head. ‘He was single. No siblings or children of his own. Neither of his parents are alive, which I guess is a blessing under the circumstances. John was originally from the US but he told me his second cousin had moved here recently from the States. A doctor. I don’t recall him mentioning her name. That probably doesn’t help much.’

Given the late hour, Brierly’s other colleagues had clocked off, so Frankie decided to wait until the following day to interview them. ‘We’ll be back tomorrow,’ she told Marino, ‘so if you think of anything in the meantime.’ The woman nodded. Gail had the distinct impression that unlike Gimlet, Brierly’s supervisor did care about what had happened to him.

‘You certainly got up Gimlet’s goat,’ Frankie said to Gail once they were back in the car. The role of bad cop had seemed to fall naturally to Gail today. When she Frankie needed to do the good cop bad cop routine, they often disagreed about who got to play good cop, both tending to be the bad one.

‘Gimlet’s goat. That kinda of rhymes.’

‘Yeah, I’m a poet,’ Frankie said sardonically.

‘He’s hiding something.’

‘Yeah?’ Frankie quirked an eyebrow, ‘it looked like a straightforward setup to me. I don’t like coincidences though. Not one bit.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Frankie and Gail had left Dov and Chloe back at the station combing through databases to see if they could locate someone related to John Brierly. As they walked back into the detective pen, Chloe was practically spinning on her seat.

‘What is it muppet?’ Frankie asked.

‘Brierly has a second cousin,’ Chloe sad excitedly, ‘a doctor who works at Toronto General.’

‘Yep, we heard as much. Did you get a name?’

‘Dr Francine Hart,’ Dov said, looking up from the computer.

‘Fuck, you’ve got to be kidding me,’ Gail said. She wasn’t egotistical enough to think the world revolved around her, but right now the universe did seem to be conspiring against her. What had Gimlet said about coincidences? A chance happening. This was certainly one she could do without.

‘You know her?’ Dov asked.

‘Kinda.’

‘Is she an ex or one night stand or something,’ Chloe asked.

‘Chloe,’ Dov warned, surprised by Chloe’s bluntness, especially as it was directed at Gail, but Chloe just made a face at him.

‘More like one of Holly’s one night stands,’ Frankie chimed in.

‘Thanks Frankie,’ Gail said sarcastically.

‘Well, someone had to say it. I think Chloe and I should go talk to the doctor. Having had the dubious pleasure of meeting her, I reckon she’d probably take the news better from us than Gail. So Dov and Gail you can call it a night.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Coming out of the locker room on her way home, Gail literally ran into Celery and Oliver. It appeared Celery had made dinner for Oliver, who was on a late shift, and delivered it to the station in person. At the mention of the dinner, Oliver’s eyes widened just a fraction and his smile became fixed. Gail was about to ask if it had consisted of anything besides kale when Celery spoke up instead. Gail made a mental note to bring in some donuts for Oliver tomorrow.

‘Oh, Gail how did the dinner go?’ the witch asked, looking intently at her.

‘Great, great,’ Gail said, ‘I think, well I think Holly’s parents actually liked me.’ God, she thought, why was she once again baring all to Celery. What sort of sorcery was she practicing? It had to be powerful to get Ollie eating rabbit food.

‘So the rescue remedy worked.’

‘Uh, I guess.’

‘Were you calm?’

Gail nodded.

‘Not on edge? No feelings of anxiety?’

‘Well, yes before I left for the restaurant but then I took the remedy and,’ Gail trailed off.

‘So it worked,’ Celery smiled. 

‘Yep,’ Gail said, not sounding the least bit sure. Had that hippy potion made a difference? Who would know but she really didn’t mind if Celery wanted to take credit. Especially, if Gail was being really honest, as it was the first time she’d actually pulled something like that off. ‘Oh and hey, thanks Celery.’ This time Gail’s words were sincere and the smile she gave the witch was genuine.

Celery took her leave then, saying something about having to deliver a potion to a friend downtown, and giving Oliver a kiss on the cheek. Oliver gave that genial smile of his, which even in her darkest moments Gail couldn’t help but find comforting. Now though there was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. 

‘What?’ Gail asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

‘Potion or placebo?’ he said simply.

‘What?’

‘Thing is, my not so petulant Peck, I don’t believe you needed a potion to impress Holly’s parents. I think you did that on your own. But if you tell Celery I said that, I’ll deny it.’

Gail laughed and shook her head. ‘You have too much faith in me, Ollie. But if Celery brings up the topic again, it was definitely the rescue remedy.’

Too much faith, Oliver pondered Gail’s words as she sauntered off down the corridor. Someone had to have faith in Gail because she still had moments of insecurity. Much less so than before. She’d grown up. Transformed, he realized with a measure of pride. He didn’t have to worry about her so much because plenty of people now had faith in Gail Peck, but most especially Dr Holly Stewart. 

It made Oliver happy Gail had found Holly, found someone who understood her idiosyncrasies and imperfections and hurts and all the wonderful and sometimes maddening sides of her. Who recognized the prickly façade as a smokescreen, and saw the keen intelligence, the compassion and the integrity that lay beneath it. Someone who appreciated and cherished all these things, the good and the bad, in a way those idiot boys never did. Really, the way Gail and Holly fit together, it was almost like Celery had conjured the doctor especially for his petulant Peck.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

'Our women in blue,' Gail snorted, 'is Lisa on drugs.'

'Well,' Holly said, drawing out the word. They were sitting on the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table. It had been a long day. Neither had felt like cooking, so Gail had made them sandwiches with leftover Christmas turkey from the day before and grabbed two bottles of beer.

'Oh god don't tell me Lisa's been dipping into the medicine cabinet at work.'

Holly laughed. 'No, but when you're in love your brain closely resembles a brain on drugs.’

Gail crinkled her forehead. ‘Yeah?’ ‘

‘In fact the areas of our brain that respond to drugs also respond to love. When you take drugs which induce pleasure, you release neurochemicals which are very similar to those released when you have sex and fall in love.'

'So you're saying the brains of people in love look like the brains of people snorting coke.'

'Essentially. Love uses the same neural mechanisms that are activated during the process of addiction.'

Not very romantic,' Gail pouted.

'It's just the scientific explanation,' Holly smiled, amused by Gail's grumbling. In the past, Gail would not only have relished the fact love was just a chemical reaction but would have taken great delight in sharing the information with as many love struck people as she could find.

All of a sudden Gail started singing. Low and throaty. Holly was again struck by what a good voice Gail had, and wondered why she needed to be reminded. Perhaps it was because Gail so rarely sang. She had to be drunk or high on painkillers, otherwise she had a reticence around singing. Now though, she didn't hold back.

'Oh oh catch that buzz  
Love is the drug I'm thinking of  
Oh oh can't you see  
Love is the drug, got a hook in me,' she sang.

'Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music,' Holly said, 'mid 70's I think.'

Gail's smile was wide and delighted. 'How did you know that, nerd?'

'My parents had the record. I listened to it growing up.'

'And Grace Jones did a cover in the 80's and there was one a few years back.'

Holly straightened up to kiss Gail. Just a quick brush of her lips. Gail smiled once more and then she sniggered.

'Women in blue. Really. Can I pay out Lisa about that next time I see her?'

'No. This is the first time in her thirty-six years she's ever been in love. I think we should go easy on her.'

Gail snorted again. 'And I suppose you'll make me go to dinner with Lisa and Fiona Vincent.'

'Well,' Holly said, dragging out the word again.

'Clearly Holly you are not addicted enough to me. Otherwise you wouldn't be forcing me to do such a hideous thing. So,' Gail said shifting so she was facing Holly and putting her hand on the waistband of Holly's jeans to tug her closer, 'so I think I need to work on firing up those neurochemicals some more.'

Holly tilted her head to one side, smiling. 'I think I'm plenty addicted, but just to be sure,' she trailed off.

The fact was she was completely, utterly addicted to Gail Peck. Not in some dysfunctional co-dependent way or like a junkie desperate for a hit and willing to do anything for it. No, the love Holly felt for Gail had a purity to it, a rightness that drew them inexorably together, and which made it impossible, even for a moment, to consider taking a different course. In fact even had she plotted another course, as she vaguely attempted by fleeing to San Francisco, Holly knew somehow she would have always found her way back here to this love. 

Awkward teenage fumblings aside, Holly was confident sexually and fairly sure about her attractiveness, but never had she been so aware, so certain of her effect on another person. Never had she felt this powerful tug or indeed known herself to be so cherished. And it wasn’t just the sex, which was literally breath taking and like nothing she had experienced before. No, there was a connectedness with Gail. An understanding that ran deep. A knowing of the other that was hard to put in words, except that the having of it gave life a piquancy it lacked before, a feeling of things being in sharper focus, but also of completeness. 

It was a love, Holly realized, that was vast and complicated and yet so simple. That had a beauty and a wonder to it. It reminded her of those old English hedgerow mazes, splendid and magnificent, and seemingly impossible to negotiate until you looked closer and saw the sense to it. So it became not a labyrinth but a way through, the twists and turns and occasional dead ends making the journey all the more compelling and rich, far more so than the prosaic certainty of the straight path. This was what being in love with Gail Peck meant and it was exquisite.

Holly became aware Gail was singing again.

'Oh oh catch that buzz  
Love is the drug I'm thinking of  
Oh oh can't you see  
Love is the drug for me,' Gail sang, soft and sultry this time and Holly felt as if she were being serenaded. 

She kissed Gail, slow and unhurried. Savoring. Then she pushed Gail back on the couch, shifting to hover over her and felt Gail's arms around her shoulders, pulling her down, pulling her in. If Gail was her drug, then Holly was hooked and she had no desire to kick this addiction.

...................................................................................................................

In the morning Gail was wakened by the buzz of her phone. Never a good sign. As she rolled away from Holly to reach for the phone, she saw it wasn't quite six. Holly stirred slightly and pulled the covers up over her naked body. The heating would be kicking in but still that brisk, almost shocking chill of early morning had settled in the room.

By the time they had finished with each other last night, Holly and Gail were too tired to get up and find pajamas and instead had fallen into an exhausted but contented sleep, holding one another other tightly. She'd never been able to sleep with anyone else so close like that, Gail thought. Mostly she didn't like people touching her when she slept, especially after sex. Olivia and Frankie had been the exception, but with them it was more a case of tolerating an arm thrown casually around her waist. Yet nothing felt so comfortable as being cocooned in Holly's arms or wrapping herself around Holly.

'It better be good, Anderson,' Gail growled into the phone.

'Oh yeah. It's good. Dispatch received a call half an hour ago from a person claiming to have killed Mike Brierly. They said if EquanimityPlus doesn't stop testing on animals, the CEO will be the next one on the chopping block.'

'Chopping block.'

'That's a quote Peck, not me being poetic.'

………………………………………………………………


	36. Thirty-Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for the kudos, subscriptions, bookmarks, comments and for reading. Let me know what you think of this chapter – leave a review – they inspire and I love getting them :)
> 
> For those also reading my other fic 'Elusive', I’m now going to work on the next chapter.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

‘You look like shit, Peck. The good doctor keep you up?’ Frankie said by way of greeting as Gail wrenched the car door open. It was 6.20am and Gail barely had time for a shower and a quick coffee before she heard Frankie sounding the horn outside. Jeez, Gail thought grumpily as she had come down the porch steps, does Frankie need to wake the whole neighborhood. It was still so dark out it was practically night.

Now Gail regarded Frankie stonily. ‘It’s not even 7am, Anderson. You don’t exactly look ecstatic to be at work at this hour.’

‘Early bird and all that,’ Frankie said as she eased the car away from the curb, ‘I want to catch Gimlet before he leaves home. See if he acts differently out of the office.’

‘Did you tell him about the threat?’ Gail said, leaning over to turn up the car heater. A low of minus two was predicted for today and boy did it feel like it. She rubbed her gloved hands together to warn them up.

‘Nope. Just said there had been a development in the case. I want to see his reaction because I think you’re right. He is hiding something.’

‘What about protection?’

‘Yeah, Oliver’s sending two uniforms to meet us at the apartment. Gimlet will have someone with him at all times.’

After that the two women lapsed into silence for a while. Gail yawned loudly and rubbed her eyes and Frankie smirked at her. ‘What,’ Gail said with annoyance and Frankie just shrugged. 

The truth was Gail really hadn’t had enough sleep and today would be a struggle because of it, even if the reason for her sleep deprivation was delightful and entirely, unquestionably worth it. Would she ever tire of sex with Holly, Gail wondered. She hoped not. If anything the sex kept getting better the longer they stayed together and the more familiar they became with one another. 

It was never like this with anyone else, Gail reflected. Sometimes she felt like a cartographer mapping Holly’s body with her fingers and lips and tongue. Tracing every contour, every mark and feature, memorizing every spot from which she could draw a reaction. Surprising even herself at her unstinting and selfless attention, wanting nothing more than to give Holly pleasure. The topography of Holly and every inch mesmerizing.

Gail remembered seeing a map in a museum from the 16th century where the world was represented as a heart shaped globe. If she were really a cartographer that’s how she’d draw a map of Holly. Heart-shaped. Gail smiled reflexively as she savored that thought but stopped abruptly when she realized Frankie was looking at her knowingly.

‘So how did Francine take the news about her second cousin?’ Gail asked, as much to deflect Frankie’s attention as to find out about Francine’s reaction.

‘We didn’t get a chance to speak with her.’

‘Oh,’ Gail raised an eyebrow questioningly.

‘Nothing sinister. Dr Hart had just gone into the OR for an emergency surgery, which was expected to take several hours. We sent Officer Moore to wait for her. He said she didn’t finish until well after midnight but I asked her to call or come into the station as soon as was convenient.’

Gail nodded her head. ‘She’s unlikely to be a suspect.’

‘Yeah, although Holly said the head was severed cleanly. Isn’t that something a surgeon would know how to do?’

‘I guess.’

By the time they drew up outside Frank Gimlet’s apartment, the gloom of early morning had begun to lift. Still it looked as if it would be an overcast day, Gail decided, hating this time of year when the daylight hours shrunk. At least snow wasn’t predicted.

The Gimlet residence was in one of the newly built apartments in Yorkville not far from where Lisa used to have a condo. Like Lisa’s condo, it was floor after floor of glass and steel and large balconies with panoramic views of the city and no doubt a hefty price tag. The sort of place CEO’s and investment bankers and corporate lawyers could afford. The sort of place where the doorman wouldn’t let them take the lift to Gimlet’s floor until the CEO gave the okay, even though Frankie and Gail flashed their badges.

Gimlet lived alone, which made the size of his apartment somewhat obscene. There must be rooms no one except the cleaner went into, Gail speculated, because no doubt Gimlet had a regular cleaner. Unlike his office, the furnishings were plain, utilitarian rather than funky, and the artwork conservative rather than edgy. There was no sign Gimlet’s interior decorator wife had left her stamp here.

‘I thought you said you were married?’ Gail asked.

‘Separated, my wife kept the house and the children,’ Gimlet replied tersely.

‘And you got the bachelor pad.’ The dryness of Gail’s tone left no doubt she was being sarcastic.

‘I don’t see how that is germane to your investigation.’ Gimlet regarded Gal with disdain.

Gail shrugged. ‘We like to get the facts straight.’

In fact Gimlet didn’t seem to think very much was germane to the investigation. When they told him about the threat he looked annoyed rather than concerned and dismissed it as a prank. 

‘I very much doubt that, Mr Gimlet,’ Frankie said, ‘we haven’t released any information about this case to the media. The only people apart from the police who know about the connection between the severed head and EquanimityPlus are you and Helen Marino, and Helen doesn’t strike me as the prankster type.’

Still, Gimlet seemed strangely unenthusiastic about a police protection. ‘It’s totally unnecessary, he said, ‘in any case, we have a security guard at work.’

‘Until we can determine if the threat is credible, I’m afraid you’re stuck with the uniforms,’ Frankie said, exchanging a look with Gail. 

The aforementioned security guard was overweight and stooped and looked positively ancient. Gail couldn’t see him stopping someone walking through the front entrance let alone preventing a killer getting to Gimlet. The day before, when she and Frankie had arrived at EquanimityPlus, he was snoozing and seemed quite startled when Frankie nudged him with her foot. 

Gimlet sighed elaborately. ‘As you wish,’ he said ungraciously, ‘but I’m sure the resources of the Toronto Police force could be put to better use.’

Too right, Gail silently agreed. 

Gimlet looked downright irritated. ‘How much longer will this take? I’m normally at work by 7.30am.’

‘Just a few more questions,’ Frankie said evenly, ‘I’m curious to know why you are resisting our help. A death threat is a serious thing.’

‘Well clearly I don’t believe it is serious,’ Gimlet sighed again, making no attempt to contradict Frankie’s assessment of his attitude. ‘I think you’re wasting your time.’

‘Does EquanimityPlus experiment on animals?’ Gail said then, careful to sound casual despite abruptly changing tack. 

Gimlet turned slowly to look at her, his expression scornful. ‘Of course. All the pharmaceuticals do.’

‘So what kind of animals.’

‘Mainly rats and mice, but also dogs, cats and primates.’

‘And do they suffer?’

Gimlet threw out his hands as if to say what do you think. ‘If we didn’t test on animals, we wouldn’t be able to develop safe, life-saving treatments for patients. Animal research allows us to discover and develop medicines that have the potential to benefit billions of people worldwide.’ 

‘But it probably isn’t much fun for the animals,’ Gail said. Clearly Gimlet had been called on to defend the practices of EquanimityPlus before. To Gail’s ears it sounded like a well-rehearsed script.

‘Of course we’d like to see an end to medical research involving animals but, seeing as we can’t test on humans, until someone comes up with a viable alternative, it’s our only option,’ Gimlet said testily.

‘Would it be widely known that you conduct medical experiments on animals?’ Frankie asked.

‘Probably. PETA - you know People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,’ Gimlet broke off for a moment and Gail and Frankie nodded to indicate they were familiar with the group. ‘Well PETA and other animal rights groups routinely publish that information on the internet,’ Gimlet continued.

‘So is it possible someone got hold of that information and decided to go after your company?’

‘Your guess is as good as mine,’ Gimlet shrugged.

‘So until now, you haven’t received any threats related to your experimenting on animals?’ Frankie prodded.

‘Well, there was the protest.’

‘Protest?’

‘About six months back. It was organized by one of those fringe groups, even more extreme than PETA. I don’t even know if it had a name. About twenty of them turned up one morning and tried to block access to the facility. They were wearing animal masks and conducting mock executions. Your uniformed colleagues moved them on fairly smartly.’

‘Wait, mock executions,’ Gail said, ‘what do you mean by that?’

‘They rigged up a fake guillotine. You get the idea,’ Gimlet said impatiently.

‘And you didn’t think this was worth mentioning because – ‘ Gail trailed off, the note of disbelief in her voice impossible to miss.

‘The protest was over almost as soon as it began. The police moved them on. We all went back to work and that was the last we heard of them. They just seemed like a bunch of rat bags looking for a cause.’

‘Severed head. Guillotine. You didn’t see the connection.’ Gail knew she was being blunt but jeez this man was a CEO and he missed that.

‘Oh, well. Yes I see what you mean.’ For the first time since Gail and Frankie had entered the apartment, Gimlet looked worried.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

‘Jeez,’ Gail shook her head once she and Frankie were out of Gimlet’s apartment and in the lift, ‘he didn’t think that was relevant.’

‘Is it just arrogance or is he hiding something?’ Frankie mused.

Gail shrugged. 

‘When we get back to the station, I want you and Dov to chase up that protest. Talk to the uniforms who shut it down. See if we can get a name for the group,’ Frankie said.

Gail nodded.

‘Chloe and I’ll go interview Brierly’s co-workers at EquanimityPlus.’

‘You should ask them what they thought of the protest. Maybe the workers were a little more disturbed by it than Gimlet appears to have been,’ Gail suggested as the elevator doors opened onto the lobby. 

The doorman seemed to be waiting for them and quickly ushered them out of the building. Probably felt he needed to protect the residents from the riff raff. Crime levels in this neighborhood were low and a visit from the police was likely a reminder of a sordid side of life most of the apartment occupants wanted to pretend didn’t exist. 

‘Who’d have thought the presence of two detectives would be so alarming,’ Gail said scornfully once they were outside and on the sidewalk. Frankie sniggered.

When they reached the car, Gail’s phone buzzed. Gail saw Holly’s name flash up. Except it wasn’t her name. It had been Doctor Nerd but Gail had recently changed it to Nerd Wrangler in honor of Holly’s supervision of the two interns. ‘You know I wear my nerd badge with pride,’ Holly had pointed out at the time and Gail had laughed happily and kissed her and said, ‘Of course, why else do you think I’d call you that?’ Holly had smirked ‘Because you secretly find it hot,’ she said, which made Gail grin widely. ‘Oh, there’s nothing secret about that,’ Gail leant in again for another kiss.

‘Hey,’ Gail now said softly into the phone but with a big smile so Frankie immediately guessed who was calling, ‘you at work already?’

‘Yeah. I got up not long after you left. The toxicology report is back. They found lethal amounts of monoacetylmorhine and morphine.’

‘Heroin?’ Gail said with some surprise. 

‘Yeah, you remembered,’ Holly said. A while back she’d explained to Gail toxicologists couldn’t test directly for heroin because almost as soon as it was injected it broke down into monoacetylmorphine and then into morphine. The presence of both indicated heroin. 

‘Oh course, I always listen to what you say,’ Gail sassed,’ so Brierly overdosed. I guess it’s worth checking if he was a user.’

‘Yeah, but he died very soon after he was injected, otherwise the heroin in his blood would have converted completely to morphine but that wasn’t the case. I’d say he lost his head not long after he ODed.’

‘So that means the killer either injected Breirly or was around when he died.’

‘Yep.’

‘Well, maybe our killer isn’t completely heartless. At least Brierly wasn’t beheaded while he was alive.’

‘True, however given he was already dead, it suggests the beheading was done to make a point.’ 

‘Are you referring to lab rats?’ Gail asked thinking back to their conversation of the previous day when Holly had explained one method of euthanizing lab rats was to guillotine them. And then Gimlet had mentioned the mock guillotine at the protest. There had to be a connection. Gail made a note to find out how EquanimityPlus euthanized their lab rats.

‘Makes sense, given the killer wants this company to stop animal testing.’ As Holly finished speaking she yawned.

‘Not enough sleep,’ Gail said sympathetically.

‘And whose fault is that?’

‘You were a willing participant if I recall,’ Gail chuckled.

‘Geez Peck, stop with the flirting and tell me what Holly has for us,’ Frankie cut in, a disgruntled expression on her face.

‘Gotta go,’ Gail said to Holly.

‘What’s got into Frankie? She sounds crabbier than usual.’

‘Dunno.’

‘Love you,’ Holly said and Gail felt like she could feel Holly’s smile through the phone.

‘Um, yeah me too, I mean about you, not me, I think that too,’ Gail felt herself reddening as she disconnected.

‘Smooth as usual Peck,’ Frankie said acerbically, ‘just tell her you love her next time. It would be a lot less painful for all of us.’

‘Man, what is eating you Anderson?’

Frankie shrugged non-committedly and peered straight ahead as if suddenly needing to give her full attention to the road. Something was definitely up with her, Gail realized. Was Frankie’s brother causing her grief, Gail wondered? Although, by the sounds of it the two had been reasonably close since their mother died. Could it be Alannah? Had Frankie gone and messed that up. Whatever, Gail could tell from Frankie’s mood now was not a good time to pry. So instead she relayed the information about the toxicology report.

‘So Brierly was definitely dead before he was beheaded. Somehow that makes it slightly less grotesque,’ Frankie said, ‘still a helluva way to go.’

Gail wondered if the lab rats knew what was in store for them just before they were guillotined. She had heard rats were reasonably intelligent creatures, so did they sense the blade falling or was it a welcome relief after being subjected to experiments far more grotesque than the method of their death.

‘Hey Frankie, when you see Helen Marino ask them how they euthanize their rats,’ Gail said.

‘Why?’ The word came out so tetchily it confirmed Gail’s feeling that something was off about Frankie. 

‘Guillotining is one way of euthanizing lab rats,’ Gail explained evenly, deciding under the circumstances not to take offence at Frankie’s tone.

‘Oh,’ Frankie sounded a tad contrite, ‘yeah I’ll definitely check.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

‘So it wasn’t a non-event?’ Gail asked.

Andy shook her head. ‘It was a little rowdy. There were about thirty protestors. They had a megaphone, they were mainly low-key but a couple of them were on the aggressive side. Plus they were wearing these crazy animals masks so you couldn’t see their faces. I can understand why the EquanimityPlus employees were intimidated.’

It had taken Dov and Gail a little while to backtrack through the records to find the log detailing the protest. Turned out McNally and Anna Robinson were first on the scene.

‘They were intimidated?’ Gail asked.

‘Mostly, yeah. Although there were a few hotheads among the employees who were angry. The protestors had linked arms so the employees couldn’t get through to the entrance. Even the ones who got past the protestors couldn’t access the building because the security guard had locked the doors. He’s the one who called 911’

‘The old one?’

‘Yeah,’ Andy nodded again, ‘I got the feeling he was out of his depth and that’s why he locked the door. But it felt like any minute we could have a riot on our hands, so that’s why we called for back-up.’

‘There were hot heads on both sides. Tempers were starting to flare. Plus it was hot. It was that day back in July when the temperature hit nearly 40 degrees. When we arrived around 8.30 it was already starting to bake,’ Anna Robinson added.

‘But once the other three other patrol cars turned up, the protestors dispersed fairly quickly and peaceably. The media had shown by then, so I think they felt they’d made their point.’

‘Media?’ Dov asked, ‘do you remember who it was?’

‘Just CTV news,’ Anna said.

‘I’ll chase that up,’ Dov looked across at Gail, ‘see if they still have the footage or if a report made it to air.’

‘I don’t think it was on the news,’ Anna said and blushed. Of course, Gail thought, being a rookie she would have checked. When you first started in the job it was exciting when something you’d been involved in made it to the news. You might even spot yourself doing crowd control. The novelty soon wore off though.

‘Did you get names for any of the protestors? Gail asked hopefully.

‘No. There didn’t appear to be anyone in charge and technically no one had done anything illegal,’ Andy shrugged, ‘and once they dispersed there didn’t seem to be any point.’

Which was fair enough, Gail realized. There was no way Andy or Anna could have know the protest would figure in an investigation six months down the track. What puzzled her though was this account of the protest didn’t gel with Gimlet’s description. He had brushed it off but from what Andy said it was significant enough to disrupt business at EquanimityPlus, although that could be down to the security guard locking the door and effectively locking the workforce out.

‘You didn’t see or speak to the EquanimityPlus CEO, Frank Gimlet, during the protest?’ Gail asked and both officers shook their heads.

‘I couldn’t tell you if he was even in the building,’ Andy made an apologetic face, ‘once the protest was over we spoke to the security guard and,’ Andy paused while she flicked through her note book, ‘a Helen Marino. She gave the impression she was in charge.’

Interesting, thought Gail. Maybe Gimlet wasn’t even on the premises during the protest. In which case had Helen Marino played it down so as not to alarm him? Or had he deliberately brushed it off as inconsequential?

‘Do you recall seeing this guy?’ Dov held out a photograph of John Brierly to Andy and Anna. Andy took it first and looked at it for a full minute before shaking her head and passing it to Anna.

‘No,’ Anna said, ‘is he your severed head guy.’

‘Yep,’ Dov said, ‘it would be nice if we could find a body.’

‘Even nicer if we could find the killer,’ Gail added.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘It’s a mystery why the pharmaceuticals still experiment on animals. It’s expensive, cruel and generally the results aren’t applicable to humans. But the pharmaceuticals all drank the cool-aid on this one. Very few are looking at alternatives to animal experimentation,’ Holly explained.

Gail was in Holly’s office. When she arrived with lunch, Sally, Holly’s personal assistant, had greeted Gail warmly and said approvingly, ‘Dr Stewart needs a pick me up. She’s looking very tired today.’

Gail knew she could have googled animal experimentation, but why do that when she could tap into the big nerd brain. Besides, when Holly was in college she had been arrested for protesting against vivisection. Gail figured that might give her some insight into the anti-animal testing camp.

‘So there are alternatives?’ Gail asked.

‘Some pretty sophisticated tests using human cells and tissues have been developed recently, as well as advanced computer-modeling techniques. Then there are studies with human volunteers. Apparently these alternatives take less time and money to complete than animal experimentation. Plus you don’t have the problem of species differences which often make the tests on animals meaningless.’

‘So why keep testing on animals?’

‘It may just be a case of changing the culture. On the other hand, breeding animals for experimentation is a lucrative business. I can’t see those breeders being too keen on the pharmaceuticals using alternative methods.’

Gail bit her lip. ‘Dov said EquanimityPlus conducts experiments on behalf of larger pharmaceuticals. Is it possible those companies are contracting EquanimityPlus to do their dirty work?’

‘Entirely possible,’ Holly agreed, ‘keep it at arm’s length. That way the pharmaceuticals can say they are not directly involved in animal testing. These days a lot of consumers prefer to buy products that haven’t been tested on animals.’

‘So how far do you think an animal rights activist would be prepared to go to make a point?’

‘Oh definitely murder,’ Holly said gravely, and then at the look of astonishment on Gail’s face burst into laughter, ‘you think I might know this why?’

‘You protested against vivisection at college,’ Gail explained, her look of surprise turning to consternation, ‘it’s a reasonable assumption.’

‘Okay, that was a while ago and it was organized by a campus group. But yeah, I guess some of the animal rights activists can get very passionate. Understandably torturing animals – and that’s what we’re talking about in a lot of cases – is a very emotive issue. But would it drive someone to murder,’ Holly shrugged, ‘as we know from experience people have murdered for a lot less.’

‘True,’ Gail said, standing up from the couch where she was sitting with Holly, ‘I should go. Frankie’s on the warpath today, so I don’t want to get shit for taking a long lunch.’

‘What’s up with her anyway,’ Holly also stood and linked her arms around Gail’s waist.

‘Beats me,’ Gail blew out a breath, ‘but I’m gonna find out.’

Holly tilted her head to one side and gave Gail a lop-sided smile, this one warm and tender. Frankie and Gail might give each other shit, goad and sass and tease, but beneath all that there was a real and abiding affection. Entirely platonic of course. Holly knew that ship had sailed long ago. But nonetheless it was a friendship in which Gail and Frankie quietly, almost surreptitiously, looked out for one another. Where their similarities had made their brief relationship feel prickly and uncomfortable, as friends it allowed them to better understand each other, including the fact neither liked to admit the need for help or support from friends but were grateful when it came without fan fair.

‘What?’ Gail asked as Holly continued to smile.

‘You are amazing,’ Holly breathed, pulling Gail in closer and kissing her. 

As the kiss intensified, Holly felt Gail’s hand slip under her shirt to the small of her back, but did nothing to discourage the move. Instead she drew Gail closer still. It was like the more she got of Gail the more she wanted. Holly still felt deliciously stiff from their activities last night. She was sure she had exercised seldom-used muscles. As she began to feel her brain surrender to that haze of lust and desire that overtook her whenever Gail touched her like this, and which in that moment made her forget all other responsibilities, Holly forced herself to pull back.

‘We don’t have time for this,’ she smiled.

Gail looked at Holly knowingly. She is completely aware of her affect on me, Holly realized, conscious it was something she found extraordinarily alluring and very hard to resist.

‘Smug much,’ Holly teased, partly to distract herself so she wouldn’t give into Gail, and Gail chuckled, knowing exactly what she was referring to. ‘Why do you keep trying to seduce me in my office,’ Holly laughed good-naturedly, ‘now go. Both of us have work to do.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Gail grumbled but she was smiling. ‘Wait. Me seduce you? I could have sworn it was the other way round,’ Gail said as she backed out of the office, Holly’s laughter following her.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Frankie was nowhere to be seen when Gail got back to the station. Nor where Dov or Chloe.

‘I think she went with Chloe to get some lunch. Dov’s gone over to the TV station.’ Anna Robinson, who was on the desk, offered. ‘But there is someone here about the Brierly case. Dr Francine Hart.’

Gail turned towards the two rows of plastic chairs opposite the desk and saw Francine immediately. Apart from a guy with a Mohawk and nose-ring fast asleep in the row behind her, Francine was the only one in the waiting area. She was sitting so her back was ramrod straight and her mouth was drawn in a grim line. Her gaze, as she regarded Gail and Anna, was unwavering. Without question she would have observed Gail come up to the desk and overheard Anna saying she was here for the case. 

‘Dr Hart,’ Gail said taking a step towards her. Francine remained seated, her gaze still fixed on Anna and the desk. Where the fuck was Frankie, Gail thought, she was supposed to deal with this. ‘Would you like to come through to somewhere more private.’

At this Francine shifted her gaze to Gail. ‘You’re on the investigation?’ was all she said, but the hostility with which she said it made her displeasure clear.

‘Uh yeah,’ Gail said, ‘if you’d prefer you can speak to one of the other detectives assigned to the case when they return from lunch.’

‘No. Let’s get this over with. I need to be back at the hospital.’

Was Francine always like this, thought Gail, as she led the doctor through to one of the interview rooms, or just around her? The doctor seemed to hold Gail entirely responsible for Holly’s lack of interest in her. Now Gail would have happily taken the blame except, after Holly spent that one disastrous night with Francine, Holly had made it very clear she wasn’t interested in taking things further even though Francine was beyond keen. 

When Gail asked Holly why she had slept with Francine, Holly had said sheepishly, ‘I was lonely and depressed and missing you and more than a little drunk.’ All Gail could think to say in reply was ‘Oh.’ Holly made a rueful face and said ‘Yeah oh. Not the smartest move I’ve made.’ Still Gail had been secretly pleased when, on the night of Lisa’s birthday, she overheard Holly telling Lisa the sex with Francine was lousy.

‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ Gail said as Francine sat down. Gail took a seat on the opposite side of the table.

‘What’s it to you. You don’t know me. I barely knew John. I’m not interested in your platitudes.’

Well, okay then, that’s how we’re playing this, Gail thought. She may as well get right to it.

‘So it sounds like you didn’t know John well?’

Francine looked at Gail with an expression that basically said ‘duh, what did I just tell you’, but she did, at least, answer the question.

‘I probably met him a handful of times at family things when he was younger and he and his parents lived in the states. He wanted to catch up when I moved to Toronto but we didn’t have a lot in common. He’s a lab technician and I’m, well¬–‘

‘And you’re a doctor,’ Gail supplied. 

‘Exactly.’

No doubt Francine believed Holly was slumming it with Gail. It seemed like she was singing from the same songbook as Lisa, Gail observed wryly. Although to be fair, Lisa had mellowed a little, especially since she started dating Fiona Vincent.

‘So did you have any contact with John after you moved here?’ Gail asked.

‘Other than a few emails and texts, none.’

‘And do you mind telling me what was in those emails and texts?’

‘They were short. Basically trying to set up a meeting time.’

‘Nothing about work? He didn't mention if anything or anyone might be worrying him?’

‘No. He was rather persistent about the meeting. Didn’t seem to get the hint when I said I was too busy.’

‘So I’m guessing you wouldn’t know if anyone would want to kill him.’

‘No. He was basically a stranger,’ Francine ostentatiously looked at her watch.

‘Would you know if John used drugs?’

‘Drugs?’ The sullen expression Francine had sported throughout the interview morphed into disbelief.

‘Heroin to be exact.’

Francine laughed derisively. ‘John was dweeby, boring and cautious. I doubt he had ever even got drunk, except by accident, let alone taken drugs. Getting beheaded was probably the most exciting thing that ever happened to him.’

Gail fixed Francine with a look that was part quizzical, part incredulous. After a moment, Francine shifted uncomfortably. ‘Look, will this take much longer? I need to get back to work,’ she said.

That was the second time she’d been asked that question today, Gail noted. Why were both Gimlet and Francine so keen to be done speaking to the police? Surely, if someone you knew was murdered, your first instinct would be to help the police in whatever way you could.

What sort of surgeon are you Dr Hart?’ Gail asked after waiting a beat.

‘A General Surgeon.’

‘A jack of all trades.’ Gail savored the words, rolling them out and leaving them hanging so ‘the master of none’ was implied.

Francine screwed up her face and didn’t respond.

‘So would you have the skills to cleanly sever a head?’

‘Are you accusing me of killing my cousin, Peck. Do I need a lawyer?’

‘No. No. I’m just trying to work out how the killer might have got the job done.’

‘I thought figuring that out was your girlfriend’s job,’ Francine sneered. She stood abruptly and looked steadily at Gail, her lip still curled scornfully. ‘I’m required back at work. If I am needed for further questioning, I’d rather speak to one of your colleagues. Someone more professional.’

Childish and vindictive, Gail surmised, not in the least perturbed by Francine’s parting shot. Man, Holly had dodged a bullet, she decided.  
………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gail had just escorted Francine back out to the reception area when she got the call from Mimi.

‘Oh hello dear,’ Mimi said when Gail answered, ‘we’ve got something for you.’

What could Mimi and Elspeth have for her? A Darth Vader costume maybe. She liked that thought. Next time she interviewed Francine she could wear that. Except there probably wouldn’t be a next time. Francine seemed as keen to avoid Gail, as Gail was to avoid her. The brief interval she spent with the doctor had left her downright disgruntled and feeling a little grubby.

‘You do,’ Gail said cautiously. 

‘We went back through our security footage and we’ve found something you should see.’

‘Security footage?’ Gail echoed.

‘We had a few break-ins so we had cameras installed over the front and back entrances,’ Mimi explained.

So much for the supposedly safe neighborhood, Gail thought.

‘And there’s something on the footage I should see,’ she prompted when Mimi didn’t continue.

‘Oh yes, a man. On Christmas night. Carrying a box. It looks like he crossed the street to the vacant lot.’

‘We’ll be over to take a look shortly,’ Gail promised before disconnecting. Could this be a break in the case? She tried not to be too hopeful. It would probably come to nothing.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

When Frankie returned from lunch ten minutes later she was not impressed Gail had spoken to Francine alone.

‘Don’t you trust me to do my job,’ Gail said, now feeling irritated with Frankie as well as Francine.

‘You know it’s not that Gail.’

‘I recorded it so you can listen to the interview if you want.’

‘I might just do that,’ Frankie said, ‘meantime you and Chloe can go over to the costume store.’

‘Any luck this morning?’ Gail asked as she turned to leave.

‘Nope. None of Brierly’s colleagues had much to say at all. He wasn’t close to anyone. Kept to himself. Not one person admitted to knowing anything about his personal life. Kinda sad really. Quite a few them admitted they were unsettled by the protest though. Oh and Helen Marino did confirm they euthanize the lab rats using a guillotine. Specially made for the job, apparently.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

‘See, just there,’ Elspeth pointed at the commuter screen with an arthritic finger. Again Gail wondered how she managed to sew such intricate costumes. 

The security camera was positioned in the shop window to give a view of the entranceway and the sidewalk in front of the shop and part of the street itself.  
Chloe and Gail watched as a man of medium height and build walked past the shop. He was wearing a hoodie, which hid his face, and was carrying a box that looked awfully like the one they’d found in the vacant lot with the severed head. From the way he held the box, slightly low and with arms extended, it seemed whatever was in it wasn’t light.

‘Why do they always wear hoodies,’ Chloe said.

‘Just wait for what happens next,’ Elspeth said, practically vibrating with excitement. A regular Miss Marple and relishing every moment of it, Gail thought. 

Even before Elspeth finished speaking, the man stopped at the curb and turned his head towards the shop so they could see half his face. Except they didn’t see his face at all because he was wearing a mask. It was a mouse mask, exquisitely made with whiskers and what looked like fur. 

‘It’s one of ours,’ Mimi said.

‘Sorry,’ Gail said.

‘The mask. We made five of them for an animal rights protest about six months ago.’

Gail looked across at Chloe. This was too big a coincidence not to mean something. Would it be too much to hope Elspeth and Mimi had a contact for the protestors who ordered the masks?

‘Do you have a name and contact details for the people who brought the masks,’ Gail asked.

‘Oh yes.’ With a shaky hand Elspeth passed Gail a piece of paper, ‘Dominic Swartz. He was a nice young man. Very committed. From what he said, the experiments they do on those animals are really awful. Criminal.’

‘Yes, we gave him a discount on the masks,’ Mimi chimed in, ‘Dominic said most of the protestors were making their own masks but he wanted some that were really spectacular.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………..  
Back at the station, Frankie just nodded when Gail informed her they had a good lead. Gail and Chloe had tried the cell phone number Elspeth and Mimi gave them but it have gone to one of those generic voice-mail messages. 

‘I’ll break out the champagne when we make an arrest,’ Frankie said to them grumpily, ‘and yes of course follow up the guy who ordered the masks. See if you can get an address. In the meantime, Gail can I have a quick word.’

When Chloe left, Frankie spoke again. ‘Francine Hart has made an official complaint about you.’

‘About me?’ Gail’s face was creased in confusion.

‘Yeah. She claims you harassed her. I listened to the recording of the interview. I don’t think you have anything to worry about,’ Frankie said, ‘she was belligerent from the get-go.’

‘Oh, good,’ Gail breathed out a sigh of relief.

‘Except, why’d you have to go and ask Francine if she’d know how to cleanly sever a head?’

‘Because that’s what you said in the car this morning.’

‘I was just being contrary. You were right. There’s no reason to think she’s a suspect.’

‘Oh,’ Gail said, feeling foolish. Though, if she were really honest, she’d just needed an excuse to get under Francine’s skin a little. Deep down Gail had known Frankie wasn't serious this morning. 

‘I’ll have to pass this on to Fiona Vincent,’ Frankie said apologetically, ‘follow protocol.’

‘Oh shit, that means my mother will find out,’ Gail said. And probably Lisa too, Gail thought, now she’s all cozy with Fiona Vincent. Last Gail heard the Staff Sergeant had practically moved into Lisa’s place.

‘I have a feeling the Superintendent already knows,’ Frankie said, looking past Gail down the corridor. Gail followed her gaze. Walking towards them at a brisk clip and with a set expression on her face was Elaine Peck. Gail felt her heart sink.


	37. Thirty-seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….
> 
> Thanks for the comments, kudos, subscriptions, bookmarks and for reading.  
> I'm returning to work next week after quite a long holiday so the updates for this and Elusive will probably be a little less frequent.
> 
> This chapter we find out what's bugging Frankie, and Elaine's response to the complaint against Gail is a little more nuanced than perhaps expected. Hope you enjoy. As always, I love to know what you think –so leave a comment :)  
> ….

'Looks like you're having a worse day than me,' Frankie deadpanned as she and Gail watched Elaine advance down the corridor towards them.

Gail jerked her head away from the sight of her impending doom, in the form of her mother, and looked at Frankie. 'Yeah, what is with that?' she asked.

'Doesn't matter. And don't worry I've got your back.' Frankie muttered as Elaine finally arrived in front of them.

'Why is it, Detective Peck, that I spend half my working life putting out fires for you,' Elaine said. The words were confrontational, but strangely Elaine's tone held no bite.

'Nothing better to do?' Gail suggested facetiously. She kicked herself internally. Why was it she allowed her mother to bring out her most immature side? But then again how was it that Elaine had this knack of making her feel like she was fifteen again and a fuck-up? All it took was a word or a look from the Superintendent.

It was something Gail's therapist had asked her to address. If Gail wanted Elaine to take her seriously, Leslie suggested, then perhaps that was the level at which she needed to engage with her mother. Gail had rolled her eyes and told Leslie it wasn't that easy, that sometimes Elaine was so overbearing and her exPecktations so ludicrous, flippancy was the only sane response. Leslie had urged Gail to at least try.

Elaine sighed. 'A harassment complaint is no laughing matter, regardless of how spurious it is.'

Interesting Gail thought, it seemed her mother had already decided Francine's complaint was groundless.

'It is spurious,' Frankie said, 'just listen to the recording.'

'You recorded the interview,' Elaine looked at Gail who nodded, 'good thinking. I'm assuming Dr Hart is an ex-girlfriend of Holly's?'

'She wishes,' Gail said, 'it never got that far. Holly wasn't interested.'

'And now Dr Hart holds a grudge against you?' The Superintendent arched an eyebrow. Gail nodded again, grateful her mother was actually very good at reading situations. Admittedly, not normally where her daughter was concerned.

'We can sort this quickly,' Frankie said, 'I'll speak with Francine again. Calm her down.'

'Unfortunately, since Dr Hart spoke to you Detective Anderson, she has made an official complaint through her lawyer,' Elaine said.

'Really,' Gail said, 'that was quick. I only spoke to her an hour and half ago and then she rushed away to work.'

'Well, it seems she didn't waste anytime. Her lawyer is Corey Beaumont. Is that going to be a problem?'

'Corey Beaumont?' Gail screwed up her face.

The name sounded familiar. Oh shit, Gail realized, Corey Beaumont was one of the blind dates Elaine set her up with. He would have been attractive but for a serious overbite, which clearly even money couldn't fix. Corey had spent most of the date talking about how he was the youngest person to make partner in his law firm, and the various cars and real estate he owned, and how, even though he was the youngest son, he was in line to inherit a good chunk of the Beaumont fortune.

Elaine looked at Gail expectantly. Frankie regarded the two women with open curiosity.

'Oh' Gail said.

'Oh?' Elaine queried, 'were you dismissive of him?'

Gail could swear Frankie was sniggering but so quietly you could barely hear. 'I may have turned down a second date.'

'Politely?'

Gail shook her head. 'I may have said I'd rather have my teeth pulled.' She made a sheepish face, 'and I possibly said pushing out Beaumont baby heirs with undershot jaws was not something I saw in my future.'

'Weak-chinned,' Frankie chimed in. Gail started to chuckle but broke off when she met her mother's stern gaze.

'So he has a personal reason to come after you as well,' Elaine sighed, 'unfortunately, because of our relationship, I have to stay at arms length from this inquiry, but I trust Staff Sergeant Vincent to do a good job.'

'It's an official inquiry?' Gail said. Of course it was. Once an official complaint was received, it had to be treated seriously, as much to give the officer involved a chance to clear their name as to ensure there were no cover-ups.

'I'm afraid so,' Elaine replied, 'but it sounds like Dr Hart is simply being vindictive so I doubt this will go anywhere. But in case it does, I've briefed our lawyers.'

The same lawyers who did such a bang-up job of representing Steve, Gail thought bitterly. She shouldn't be surprised her mother had taken it upon herself to contact the lawyers without consulting her. Still, it irked her. In fact, it was galling Elaine was even here discussing the complaint. Gail knew what her mother was doing, she was 'handling' the situation and it left Gail not only deeply unimpressed but resentful Elaine felt it necessary.

'Mother,' Gail began, 'if I want or need a lawyer, I can call one myself. Despite what you may think, I am capable of dealing with this, and, given the complaint system is set up to allow for procedural fairness, I'm not worried.'

'Gail,' Elaine said.

The almost wheedling tone in which Elaine said her name took Gail by surprise. But she was even more surprised by the look of hurt that crossed her mother's face. It was there just for an instant and then Elaine composed herself and put the mask back in place. It was so brief Gail wondered if she'd imagined it. Had she read this all wrong? Was Elaine actually trying to support her, even though it meant, as usual, she marched in and tried to assume control?

'Mother, I appreciate your concern but I can handle this,' Gail said

'It's just we need to be careful,' Elaine sighed, 'The Peck name, well the Peck name doesn't hold the same weight it used to.'

'The Peck name means jackshit,' Gail said a little more harshly than she intended.

Elaine winced. 'Exactly. In some circles, it's synonymous with corruption. It means the Department is going to tread extra carefully with this. Any allegation against a Peck will automatically be investigated no matter how insubstantial the complaint. Then if the media gets hold of this – well I wouldn't feel so confident about procedural fairness then.'

'Oh,' Gail said, realizing she hadn't thought about the wider implications of Francine's actions.

'I'm due at a meeting with the Commissioner shortly, but Gail I'll do whatever it takes to help you get through this.'

As she and Frankie watched Elaine retreat back down the corridor, Gail let out a huge breath. 'Oh fuck,' she said.

'Oh man, your day just got a whole lot worse than mine,' Frankie said, sounding not unhappy at the thought she'd handed that mantle to Gail. Although, she gave Gail a sympathetic smile.

…..

Returning to the detective pen, Gail found Dov and Chloe with their heads bent together in whispered conversation. It sounded urgent and a little agitated and Gail had the distinct impression it was about her. When Dov caught sight of Gail, he pushed back from the desk and stood. He gave Chloe a meaningful look and said 'just do it,' before nodding to Gail and leaving.

'Okay, I've just been dealing with the Superintendent's machinations, and I really don't have the patience for your amateur league intrigues, so spill Chloe.'

Chloe reddened and her face seemed to narrow so it became all pointy and anxious looking.

'Well, the thing is, oh jeez, I don't know how to put this. I don't want to seem ungrateful,' Chloe bit her lip, 'you basically took me in when Dov and I split that time, and it's been great, but now you have Holly and well you know it may be time. Time for both of us I mean, and it won't change our friendship. I promise. And I probably should be discussing this with Holly as well, and I've been trying to find the right moment –'

Chloe trailed off as Gail, who was standing, pretended to trip forward on her feet, and then exaggeratedly jerked her head back as if fighting sleep.

'Oh sorry, Chloe,' Gail said with false sweetness, 'I think I might be experiencing boredom induced narcolepsy. So you're moving back in with Dov. No biggie. You practically live at his place anyway.'

'So you're not upset,' Chloe asked, her relief palpable.

Gail shrugged. 'Nah, I get that you Disney's princesses need to spread your sunshine and happiness around. Like Lassie, you have to keep moving on.'

Chloe regarded Gail for a moment. 'So you're saying my work here is done.'

'Nothing of the sort,' Gail held up her hands in protest, 'it will be a relief not to be part of the Von Trapp family anymore.'

In truth though, she had liked living with Chloe. Despite her incessant chatter and steadfast optimism, it had actually been easy sharing with Chloe. Gail knew Chloe provided a foil to her more cynical tendencies and oft-professed misanthropy. God knew she'd needed some of that sunniness in her darker moments after Steve was jailed. Gail realized she'd miss Chloe, but she wasn't about to admit that. Dov reappeared then, hovering and tentative like his presence might cause Gail offence.

'It's okay Dov, Chloe told me. She goes with my blessing but it's a mystery why anyone would voluntarily choose to live with you. Chloe, you know he leaves the toilet seat up, right.'

'I do not,' Dov spluttered.

'Yeah you do, Dov,' Chloe said.

Gail grinned happily.

'What are you smiling about,' Dov grumbled.

'Oh, I do like being right,' Gail replied smugly.

'Well, you're not going to like this,' Dov said, 'there are four people called Dominic Swartz in Canada and they are either to old or too young to be our mask man. One's in his eighties, one is fifty-four, and the other two are three and thirteen.'

'So could Elspeth and Mimi have got his name wrong?' Gail asked, immediately all business.

'No, I called them and checked. They were adamant it was Dominic Swartz. Mimi distinctly remembers asking him to spell it out, because she wasn't sure if he said it was Schwartz or Swartz.'

'Is it possible he's not Canadian and that's why there is no record of him?'

'Nope I checked that too. Mimi said he definitely had a Canadian accent and there is no record of anyone of that name and matching his description entering the country,' Dov said.

'What about the phone?' Chloe asked.

'Pre-paid. It was bought by a Mitchell Warner. Now he has both a record and a history of alcohol and substance abuse. Most of his convictions are for petty stealing to support his habit. He's lived on the street for the past few years, but he's currently in a detox facility on Higgins Street, you know the one run by the church.'

'So he's unlikely to be our man,' Chloe sighed.

'Except somebody may have bought the phone from Warner or paid him to buy it for them,' Gail said.

'It's a strong possibility,' Dov agreed.

'Fancy a visit to rehab, Chloe?' Gail asked.

'Sure, but what about Frankie?'

'She's in with Fiona Vincent talking about my behavior,' Gail made a face, 'part of me wishes I had roughed up Francine so she'd had a real reason to complain.'

'You do not,' Chloe said firmly.

Gail shrugged in a 'whatever' gesture. 'Hey, Dov can you let Frankie know where we've gone.'

Dov nodded as she and Chloe started heading out. Gail stopped just inside the detective pen and turned back to Dov. 'Any chance the phone company can triangulate the phone's location?'

'I tried that. It seems they stopped getting a signal from the phone straight after you called and left a message. He probably took the battery out or destroyed the phone.'

'Damn,' Gail said, 'it was stupid of us to try and call him.' Hindsight always made you wiser, she thought morosely.

…..

Christian Outreach was the name of the detox facility. It was in an older brick building crammed on either side by office towers, so it looked completely out of proportion and as if it were in danger of being completely swallowed up by its massive neighbors.

'The church has owned this building since the 1850s,' Sister Maria explained. She wasn't particularly happy Chloe and Gail wanted to speak to Mitchell Warner. 'During this part of the program it's best our residents don't have contact with the outside world,' she explained through pursed lips.

'Sister, we really wouldn't ask if it wasn't important,' Chloe smiled sweetly.

Finally, Sister Maria agreed and ushered them into to a small room just off the reception area. It was stuffy and overheated, barely big enough to fit the round table and four chairs it held. The walls were lined with posters advertising self-help groups and drug and alcohol counseling services, a domestic violence line, a family center and a men's group. There was a large quit smoking poster and another entreating the viewer to love yourself.

Chloe and Gail took a seat and Mitchell Warner appeared shortly after. Whatever he was coming off, he looked like shit, Gail observed. Wild red eyes and sallow skin he couldn't help scratching.

'Yeah I have a phone,' he said, 'the sisters' are holding it. We aren't supposed to have contact with outsiders in the first few weeks of the program.'

'What's the number?' Chloe asked. Warner rattled it off, and Chloe looked across at Gail, who shook her head. It wasn't the same as the one supplied by Mimi and Elspeth and which Dov said was registered to Warner.

'Thing is Mitchell,' Gail said, leaning forward in her chair, 'we have a record of another phone registered in your name. A pre-paid one from Bell Canada. Can you tell us anything about that?'

'Nope,' Warner started to shake his head, 'oh shoot. Yeah, I can you about that.'

'Yeah,' Gail said, trying not to sound impatient.

'A guy came up and asked me to buy a phone for him. It was when I was living in Victoria Park. You know in that homeless camp. Ten months ago maybe.'

'And you agreed. No questions asked.'

'I'm a junky. He offered me 300 bucks. It seemed like easy money.'

'And did he give you a name?' Chloe asked gently.

'Um Johno I think,' Warner shrugged, 'it was awhile back.'

'Can you remember what he looked like?' Chloe said.

'Weedy. Moustache. Black hair. Kinda nervous.'

Shit, Gail thought, Warner might just be describing John Brierly. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through the photos until she found one of Brierly.

'Did he look anything like this man?' she asked.

'Shit, that's him. He in some kind of trouble?'

'That's one way of putting it,' Gail said. Man, this case had just got even weirder.

…

'He was certain it was Brierly,' Frankie asked. Gail and Chloe had returned to the station and relayed their interview with Warner to Frankie and Dov.

'He seemed quite definite,' Chloe said, 'called him a strange little dude and said he was nervous.'

'But Brierly isn't the man who brought the masks from Elspeth and Mimi,' Frankie pointed out, 'didn't they describe that guy as tall, sandy haired, wide smile. No moustache.'

'So maybe Brierly was working with this Dominic guy on the protest?' Gail suggested.

'But he was employed by EquanimityPlus, the very place Dominic Swartz, or whatever his name is, was protesting against,' Frankie said irritably, exasperated that nothing about this case was making much sense. The fact that she'd just spent a frustrating and fruitless hour with Fiona Vincent going over the ridiculous complaint against Gail wasn't contributing to making her mood any better. Talk about a waste of police resources, she thought.

'Maybe Brierly got turned off by the experiments and became like, I dunno, a whistle-blower,' Gail said.

'But if that's the case, why kill him?' Dov asked. Gail shrugged.

'Okay it's late,' Frankie checked her watch. It was past 7 pm. She'd collected Gail not long after six am this morning. They'd been going at this for over thirteen hours. 'Let's call it a night. Tomorrow we need to visit all the fringe animal right's groups we can find. Someone must know something about who was involved in that protest.'

….

'So what is bugging you, apart from this shitfest of a case?' Gail asked. Frankie was giving her a ride to the morgue where she'd arranged to meet Holly. Having been collected by Frankie this morning meant Gail had no car.

Frankie twisted her mouth and gripped the steering wheel. For a moment Gail thought she was going to ignore her question. 'Alannah wants us to move in,' she finally said in a rush, 'together.'

Gail smiled. Of course, this explained why the detective was out of sorts. Gail would bet her tab at the Penny, Frankie had never lived with anyone. Frankie could be a badass, a hardass, she could face up to the toughest of criminals and put her life on the line for her job, but make a commitment to someone? Oh no, that was too big, too scary a step. Not a lot could rattle Frankie. But the girlfriend, who she clearly adored, asking her to move in. Definitely unsettling, Gail thought with amusement, recognizing something of herself, or maybe even her former self, in Frankie's reaction.

'It's too soon, right,' Frankie asked, 'we've only been, you know, seeing each other for four months.'

'To the exclusion of all others?' Gail asked, knowing the answer but wanting to make a point.

'Uh, yeah. We're exclusive. Why?'

'Gotta be the first time.'

'Well, when I was with you,' Frankie started hesitantly and then broke off.

'It was hardly a relationship and we had sex with plenty of other people,' Gail finished, her tone offhand, taking Frankie's hesitation as a sign she wanted to spare her the brutal truth about the failings of their sort of relationship.

Frankie shook her head.

'You didn't sleep with other people?' Gail asked, realizing her blunder.

'Not at the beginning, but later when we kinda agreed to have casual sex.'

'Oh, I didn't know,' Gail said lamely, conscious of the inadequacy of her response. When she and Frankie had been sort of dating, Gail had done nothing to hide the fact she sometimes slept with other women. They'd never discussed being exclusive, had they? Come to think of it, they'd never discussed being in a relationship. Instead they'd just fallen into it and almost as quickly fallen out.

'Water under the bridge,' Frankie said, which Gail didn't doubt for a moment.

'Okay, I've never seen you so wrapped up in anyone,' Gail said, 'no wandering eye, no comments about how hot other woman are and you seem kind of content. Happy even.'

'Yeah, but what if moving in together wrecks all that. I mean I've never lived with anyone before.'

Ah, Gal thought, so she was right about that.

'Frankie, you and Alannah practically live together anyway. Just see it as a more formal arrangement. This way you won't have to make sure you have enough clean underwear at her house.'

Frankie grunted and said something inaudible.

'What,' Gail asked.

'I have one side of the closet,' Frankie mumbled as if making an embarrassing omission.

'Well, there you go,' Gail said, 'you have practically moved in.'

'How did you know?' Frankie asked, her voice now quite distinct.

'How did Holly and I know when it was time to move in together?'

'No, no. How did you know when you were in love?' Frankie said, her words once again tumbling out in a rush.

'When I couldn't imagine spending even another second of my life without Holly,' Gail said simply.

'Oh,' Frankie said quietly. Then 'Oh' again but this time a little louder, like something had, all of a sudden, become, clear to her. The thunderbolt moment, Gail guessed. She looked sideways at Frankie and saw she was flushed. Well, what'd you know, Frankie was in love, Gail smiled to herself. She couldn't wait to tell Holly.

…

'I'm so sorry honey,' Holly said sympathetically, making a rueful face.

'How did you know?' Gail had just arrived in Holly's office. She wasn't certain she'd mention the complaint to Holly, even if it had been weighing a little heavily on her mind since her mother weighed in. Talk about being a harbinger of doom, but that was Elaine for you. Normally Gail wouldn't conceal anything from Holly but, in this instance, she was worried Holly would feel responsible.

'Frankie called. She had a feeling you wouldn't tell me about it,' Holly stopped and smiled gently and when Gail didn't contradict this, she continued. 'This is all my fault. I never should have slept with Francine. God, it felt like a mistake even as it was happening.'

'I'm sorry Holly, but I could really do without the image of you and that psycho having sex,' Gail sighed.

'Oh, god me too. It was truly awful. Clumsy and awkward and I didn't even –' Holly stopped as Gail shuddered, 'sorry.'

Gail cupped her hands around Holly's face and leaned in to kiss her, just briefly.

'It is not your fault,' she said softly, 'that Francine is a psycho.'

'But if it weren't for me –' Holly broke off as Gail put a finger to her lips and said 'shh' and then kissed her again, this time a little longer, but unhurried, pulling Holly's bottom lip between her own and slowly letting go. Holly knew Gail was trying to distract her and it was almost working.

'Okay, but Frankie also told me Francine's lawyer is one of your ex-boyfriends,' Holly said, pulling back from the kiss.

'God, Frankie has a big mouth,' Gail whined, 'he was never a boyfriend. One date. It was one of my mother's set-ups. You know when she was doing the blind date thing.'

'Oh,' Holly nodded, remembering. At the time Gail had regaled Holly with witty accounts of the increasingly preposterous dates Elaine set up for her. Although in all honesty, Holly wasn't that entertained because, amusing as the stories were, she was crushing big time on Gail and wished it was she who being set up on a date with the blonde cop. Of course, she had resigned herself to that never happening because duh Gail was straight.

'If only my mother knew those blinds dates probably helped me realize I was falling for you, well that and the girl you were all over that night at the Penny.'

'I was not all over her,' Holly protested.

'Well, you hugged her when she arrived.'

'And that was pretty much the extent of our physical contact,' Holly said, 'and I was hoping to make you jealous, even though I thought it was a complete waste of time seeing as you were straight.'

'Really, you were trying to make me jealous?' Gail chortled, 'ha, well it worked. Good thing no one could read my mind because I was having some very murderous thoughts about your date.'

'How come you never told me that?'

Gail shrugged.

'Anyway, how did the blind dates help you realize you'd fallen for me?' Holly asked.

'I spent every single date thinking how much more fun it would be to hang out with you.'

Holly smiled, wide and happy, and kissed Gail. She was quite suddenly and without warning filled with the most urgent desire for Gail, almost a fierce need, and she pulled Gail nearly flush against her as the kiss intensified. Then she ran a hand across Gail's ass, catching her breath at the firmness, the utter sexiness of it, and pulled Gail closer still.

It took just a beat for Gail to catch onto Holly's intent. Gail's hands traveled up under the back of Holly's shirt. She loved the sculptured smoothness of Holly's back, the curves of her body upon which, on so many other occasions, she'd left a trail of kisses or unhurriedly, teasingly traced with her tongue.

Today, however, Gail had the distinct impression Holly wanted nothing measured or slow about this. So she moved a hand to behind Holly's neck, the pressure making their kiss more ardent, their tongues tangling so Gail could taste the delicious sweetness that Holly breathed.

Gail was aware their moans, breathy and wanting, were filling the room. Then Holly was pushing her across and down onto the couch and Gail was saying 'wait, wait. Oh my god wait.'

'What?' Holly stilled instantly.

'Remember no sex in your office,' Gail said, trying not to be distracted by Holly's cleavage. Two of the top buttons of her shirt had come undone, revealing a lacy black bra and a chest that was heaving ever so delicately and ever so deliciously.

'Fuck that,' Holly said. It was enough for Gail to reverse their positions, pushing Holly onto the couch. She resumed the kiss as she followed Holly, her hand unbuttoning Holly's jeans, and Holly pushed a leg against her center. Gail placed her hand inside Holly's boy shorts, finding her impossibly wet, the discovery producing a corresponding rush between her own legs.

'Inside, don't wait,' Holly panted. Gail did as she was asked. Two, then three fingers in, the heel of her hand against Holly's clit and it didn't take long before Holly was calling out her name and clawing at her back. Gail was thankful it was late and everyone else in the building, bar the security guard out front, had gone home.

Later, after Holly had returned the favor, they lay tangled together, their close embrace having nothing to do with the narrowness of the couch. Gail, now stripped of her jeans and underwear, half sat to idly reach for her boy shorts.

'Oh shit,' she said.

'What?' Holly asked in alarm. Had they been discovered? In her haste, she'd totally forgotten to lock the office door.

'There's a wet patch on the couch,' Gail said. She knew how it had happened. It was when Holly had her mouth on Gail's clit and her fingers inside her. After Gail had come so hard it was almost improbable, Holly had moved back up to kiss her, her face practically dripping with Gail's wetness.

'I think that's your fault, honey,' Holly laughed lazily, 'I won't be able to look at this couch in the same way ever again.'

'Oh shit, that's bad. At work. You don't need that distraction.'

Holly simply laughed and kissed Gail.

'You know we could have done this on the couch at home,' Gail said.

'Chloe might be there.'

'She's moving in with Dov,' Gail sat up fully now, 'she just told me this afternoon.'

'Oh,' Holly said, 'and you feel okay about that.'

'I thought it was on the cards so I wasn't surprised,' Gail mused, 'but you know it means it's just us, just you and me, at the house now.'

'Yeah,' Holly said, trying to work out where Gail was going with this. It seemed too obvious to be worth remarking upon.

'Well, it's a step.'

'A step?'

'Yeah, a step.'

'Oh,' Holly said as Gail's meaning dawned on her, 'you mean a step. Like instead of being girlfriends with a roomie, we're a couple in a house.' Holly's lips twitched in amusement.

'It's significant,' Gail said.

'Okay, but honey I already thought we were significant even with Chloe as our roomie.'

'We are but, oh' Gail sighed in frustration, 'I don't know how to explain it. It's a step.'

'Well my parents will probably think Chloe's moving out to make room for the grandchildren,' Holly teased.

'Exactly,' Gail said, not picking up, or perhaps deliberately ignoring, Holly's playful tone, 'it's a step.'

….

Later on the way home in the car, Holly asked if they should be worried about Francine's complaint. Gail liked the way Holly said 'they' because it meant Holly saw it as a problem they would tackle together. Gail realized the feeling of not having to face things alone was still novel and she found herself giving Holly a shy smile that was a mix of love and gratitude and a little bit of awe.

Gail liked too that Holly assumed she wouldn't have behaved in a way to warrant a complaint. Didn't even ask, in fact. Holly did, however, ask if Gail had said anything during the interview that could be misconstrued, especially by someone wanting to make mischief.

'I asked Francine if being a surgeon, she'd know how to cleanly sever a head.'

Holly burst out laughing. 'Oh god, I wish I could have seen her face.'

'I think it's the thing that tipped it for her,' Gail said ruefully, 'she kind of saw red after that.'

'It's a reasonable line of questioning,' Holly said, 'I don't need to tell you how in cases like this the perpetrator is often someone close to the victim, like family. I mean that's one of the first things you do, rule out family.'

'Yeah, but in this case she wasn't exactly close. She hardly knew the guy.'

'Oh,' Holly considered that for a moment, 'but you know Francine is actively opposed to animal experimentation. She belonged to a group in San Francisco. DAAE.'

'What?' Gail asked, astonished, and then 'DAAE?'

'Doctors Against Animal Experimentation. She got me to sign a petition calling on the pharmaceuticals to stop using animals to test drugs.'

'No way' Gail said again, not quite believing what she hearing. It actually meant she was justified in asking Francine that question.

'I can't see Francine murdering someone though,' Holly mused, 'annoying as she is. And Brierly's neck was cut with such force and so cleanly, it's like it was done with something like a guillotine. I can't see Francine having one of those set up at home'

Gail considered for a moment. 'Yeah, I think you're right. She's just being petty and vindictive, but I still need to let Frankie know about this. If only because it might put me in the clear.'

When they got inside the house, Chloe was there and making dinner. Gail had assumed she would be at Dov's place.

'Oh did you have to work late,' she said sympathetically to Holly, which made Gail smirk and Holly splutter a little awkwardly about an urgent matter that needed her attention.

The security guard had said something similar as they left the morgue. 'You police work her too hard,' he'd then good-naturedly chided Gail, 'you shouldn't take it lying down Dr Stewart.' Gail had had to bite her lip to stop from laughing and Holly's eyes went wide for a moment, then she found that friendly smile of hers and said 'oh, I'll think of ways to exact payback, Bert.'

Gail pulled out her phone to call Frankie, but before she could it rang and the detective's name popped up on the screen.

'Hey, I was about to call,' Gail said.

'Yeah? You must have a sixth sense. Guess what was found in a box on the steps outside EquanimityPlus.'

'Oh shit,' Gail had a feeling she knew exactly what Frankie was about to say.

'Oh shit is right,' Frankie said, 'It was Frank Gimlet's head.'

 


	38. Thirty-eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….
> 
> Finally an update of Breaking Through! I feel like I've neglected this fic a little but I am back at work and don't have as much time to write. This story is more complex than Elusive so it always takes me longer to write. That said Elusive is starting to become quite entangled. It was perhaps madness on my part to decide to write two fics at the same time. 
> 
> While I wasn't updating, it was lovely to see lots of updates and new Golly fics posted over the last few days.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, reviewing, the follows and favs. All are very much appreciated. And as always, let me know what you think. I love to hear from you, even if you think I'm not getting things right and, of course, if you do like what I'm doing. 
> 
> Apologies for mistakes. Hope you enjoy.

Holly laughed when she saw the severed head. A throaty, amused laugh. Frankie looked annoyed.

'What have you done to her, Peck,' she snarled.

Gail shifted a little uncomfortably, remembering what had transpired in Holly's office not less than an hour ago. Surely Frankie wasn't referring to that. How would she even know? Was it somehow written all over their faces? Shaking her head, Gail peered into the crate at Gimlet's head. It had been placed on a platter and garnished with lettuce and slices of tomatoes and cucumber.

'It's not real,' Holly said, 'it looks like a 3D model. A very good one. I'd pull it out to show you but we'll need to dust for fingerprints later and I don't want to compromise that.'

Chloe appeared then, a little breathless and holding out her phone.

'Are you sure it's Gimlet's head?' she asked, 'I just spoke to one of the uniforms stationed at his apartment and Gimlet is alive and well. Drinking whiskey apparently.'

'Definitely Gimlet's head. It seems he has two,' Gail said cryptically, 'even though he's big headed enough with just the one.'

'Two. As in a twin?'

'No, as in a very good 3D model,' Holly said.

'A model? How did the killer get hold of that?'

'Good question, Princess,' Frankie said.

…..

'A friend of mine who runs a 3D modeling company had it made for me. It was a joke really,' Gimlet said, once again sounding impatient. It seemed to be the only way he knew how to communicate with Frankie and Gail. His words were slurred just enough to make Gail wonder just how much he'd consumed of the half empty whiskey bottle sitting on the table in front of him.

'Expensive joke,' Frankie observed.

'Not when you're CEO of the company.'

'So where's it normally kept?'

'In a store cupboard in my office.'

'Not on display?' Gail asked innocently, although her quirked eyebrow betrayed the disdain she felt towards Gimlet.

'It was,' Gimlet waved his hand dismissively, a gesture of which he seemed particularly fond. Reinforcing his superiority perhaps, Gail speculated.

'And?'

'And then it was stored away when my wife – ah, ex-wife - redecorated the office.'

'Didn't fit in with the new decor?' Gail asked, knowing she was needling but not caring. Clearly one of Gimlet was indeed enough for the ex-wife.

'No,' Gimlet replied testily, 'my wife thought it vulgar.'

'So have you seen the head recently in the store cupboard,' Frankie asked.

'No, I don't have any reason to use the store cupboard. Last I saw it was a year ago before the redecoration. Ask my secretary. She takes care of the store cupboard.'

'Who else would have access to the cupboard?' Frankie said.

'It's in the reception area behind my secretary's desk, so really only she and I. Although I guess cleaners come in after hours.'

'No one's been seconded to the office, filled in for your secretary when she was away sick?'

'No, I make do when Marjorie is away but really any employee could have had access after hours. We don't lock the office or the cupboard.'

'So really anyone?' Gail said.

Gimlet shrugged. 'I guess. If that is all, detectives, it's getting late and I have business meetings in Vancouver tomorrow. I'm catching the 6 am flight. I'm sure you know the way out by now.'

'Sure,' Frankie said evenly, 'we'll no doubt speak on your return.'

…..

'I still don't get why he's so reluctant to help us,' Gail observed as the lift took she and Frankie down to the ground floor of Gimlet's condo, 'he borders on being uncooperative.'

'Yeah, anyone would think we were accusing Gimlet of murder,' Frankie agreed and then stopped. The two women looked at each other, their expressions sharp, almost excited, as they considered this possibility. 'You don't think he murdered Brierly? Left his 3D head to throw us off the scent,' Frankie ventured.

'Nah, his alibis checked out but he's definitely hiding something.'

'True,' Frankie sighed, 'I can't help feeling whatever it is, it's got something to do with this case.'

In the car, Frankie complained about the long day, saying she hadn't even been home yet or eaten dinner. Gail got the sense Frankie wanted to hang out, so she invited her over.

'Chloe made this huge stir-fry we can heat-up,' she offered.

In the past, they would have hit the Penny for a few beers but right now the prospect of home was much more appealing. There was food, but more importantly, Holly would be back soon. She and Chloe had gone to the morgue with the head. Still, Gail reckoned there'd be enough time before their return for Frankie to tell her what was worrying her. Alannah, Gail would bet.

Once home, Gail dug two beers out of the fridge and plonked one down in front of Frankie. Then she went about heating up the stir-fry and cooking some Hokkien noodles to go with it. Frankie didn't speak, just sipped her beer sullenly.

'You are domesticated, Peck,' Frankie finally said as Gail slid a bowl of food in front of her. The word domesticated was said with distaste

Gail laughed, 'Okay Frankie spill. What's eating you.'

Frankie shrugged and picked at the label on her beer bottle.

'It's moving in with Alannah, isn't it?' Gail prodded, wondering when she had become the kind of person who talked to people about their relationships. Frankie and Chloe had become friends. Surely Frankie would be better off getting advice from Miss Sunshine and Rainbows.

'What if I fuck it up,' Frankie said forcefully, although Gail could hear the misery behind the aggression, 'I mean it's not as if I've had any role models.'

'Frankie,' Gail said, understanding immediately, 'you are not your mother. Just because she couldn't sustain a relationship, doesn't mean you can't.'

'I haven't exactly got a good track record.'

'And I'm guessing you haven't met anyone you've felt this strongly about either,' Gail said, 'so it's a no-brainer. Move in. Don't sabotage it.'

'When did you get so wise, Peck.'

Gail gave an impish shrug.

'At least you and Holly had Chloe as a kind of buffer.'

'She's moving out on the weekend,' Gail said, snagging two more beers from the fridge and handing one to Frankie.

'Oh my god, so you and Holly really will be living a life of domestic bliss. It'll be marriage next and then kids, a dog, and a cat. Then you'll get a seven-seater SUV to transport the kids' little league team, which Holly will coach, and there will be camping trips and birthday and slumber parties. I can picture it now.'

'Anyone told you, you have a fertile imagination,' Gail laughed, deciding that maybe not all of what Frankie described sounded bad. 'Not that I want to spook you Anderson, but isn't that the same trajectory you're on if you move in with Alannah?' Gail arched an eyebrow.

'Shit, you're right. Seriously, Gail, that's why I can't do it. I mean you know me. Perennially single, love 'em and leave 'em. Why would I want to trade that in for domesticity?'

'Happiness' Gail said simply, remembering the time Traci told her everyone deserved to be happy, even Gail herself.

There was a noise from the front of the house and, in the next moment, Holly and Chloe were in the kitchen. When Gail saw Holly her face broke out into a wide and adoring grin.

Yep, Frankie thought, that was happiness. Even the snarky, sometimes bratty and self-described misanthrope Gail Peck had managed it. Why did it seem so out of her reach, Frankie wondered. Well, it was a no-brainer, she sighed inwardly. She had her fucked up family to thank. As far as Frankie knew, none of her many siblings had managed a long-term relationship.

Gail jumped up out of her chair and, not caring that Frankie and Chloe were there, kissed Holly. Just on the lips, though Gail lingered long enough to hint at the passion behind the kiss, and there was a tenderness too that gave it an intimacy. Not for the first time around Gail and Holly, Frankie felt like an intruder. Chloe seemed oblivious and Frankie guessed she was used to these displays. Then Gail offered to heat up food for Holly and Chloe. Man, she is housebroken, Frankie shook her head, who'd have thought.

'Any luck with Gimlet's head?' Gail asked as she prepared two bowls of stir-fry.

'Nothing. No prints. It was wiped clean,' Holly shook her head.

'Who would put a 3D replica of their head on display in their office?' Gail wondered.

'A narcissist?' Frankie suggested.

'Well, we know Gimlet's that. It's still kind of creepy and weird,' Gail scrunched up her face.

'Think of all the monarchs and emperors who through the ages had countless reproductions of themselves made. And what about family portraits? Even today people get family portraits taken by professional photographers. Is Gimlet's 3D head any different to those or indeed the photos we've stuck up,' Holly nodded in the direction of the refrigerator.

Frankie followed her gaze. There was a collection of photos stuck haphazardly to the fridge, mainly of Gail and Holly, although there were a few of Dov and Chloe and of all four together and with various of their other friends. In one Gail stood in dress uniform and a proud Holly kissed her on the cheek, Elaine hovering in the background. Ah, the commendation ceremony, Frankie remembered. Then there were a series of Holly and Gail on the beach during their holiday in the Bahamas, looking ridiculously sexy.

In another taken at the Penny, the two were seated across from each other in a booth with Chris and Chloe in the middle. Holly and Gail, clearly unaware a photo was being taken, were caught looking across at each other, their love palpable. Like the kiss, Frankie had witnessed moments ago, there was a tenderness to their gaze and a passion that literally smoldered off the print. In fact, it almost hurt to look at it, Frankie decided. She couldn't work out why, but it made her feel sad and excluded.

Then Frankie's eye caught a photo taken at the Christmas Eve party in front of the decorated tree. Gail was in the center, grinning widely, with an arm around Holly's waist and the other slung across Leo's shoulders. Traci had taken the photo and all the other couples stood next to each other, with the exception of Frankie and Alannah who stood at opposite ends of the grouping. Frankie inhaled sharply. It was like a punch to the gut. Yep, that was her destiny. Always on the outer. It took all Frankie's willpower to focus back on what Gail was saying.

'Well, yeah, there is a difference' Gail said, 'the photos on the fridge remind us of good times with people who we ah,' she paused as if searching for a word.

Holly suppressed a smile. She bet Gail wanted to say care about. People who didn't know Gail well saw her reluctance to admit her feelings as bratty, but Holly knew it came from a shyness, and yes a measure of under confidence because Gail feared her friends might not feel the same way about her.

'Hang out with,' Gail finally found a word that would do, 'whereas I bet a lot of those emperors and monarchs used those statues and paintings of themselves to shore up their power and remind their subjects they ruled supreme. Look at Stalin and the cult of personality.'

'Queen Elizabeth the first issued a proclamation saying artists were only allowed to paint an approved representation of her. She said this was because the "errors and deformities" of some of her portraits "grieved" her subjects. In reality, it was to make sure portraits showed her as having this kind of ageless beauty and surrounded by symbols of her virginity and power, which of course were interdependent. So yeah that was all about shoring up her dominion.'

Gail laughed. 'Oh nerd,' she said, kissing Holly on the cheek and Holly blushed a little.

'Is that what Gimlet was doing with the head?' Chloe asked, 'reminding the staff at EquanimityPlus who was boss.'

'Given he's the CEO I don't think he would need to do that, ' Frankie mused.

'But what's the bet his style of leadership is dictatorial,' Gail said.

'Oh, absolutely,' Frankie agreed, 'which was why he didn't like it when you called him out.'

Not long after the four decided to call it a night. Frankie stayed in the spare room. Gail suspected she didn't want to go home to her empty apartment or face Alannah and the ever-pressing question of whether they should move in together. It was late anyway and Gail, realizing Frankie had downed four beers in quick succession, insisted she stay.

In bed, Holly snuggled in behind Gail, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her in close. Gail made a little noise of contentment, sleepy and indistinct.

'It's nice the way you look out for Frankie,' Holly said.

'Yeah,' Gail shifted a little, suddenly a little more awake. 'Does it bother you that, apart from Lisa and Rachel, most of our friends are people we work with?'

'Kind of makes sense given the work we do. Intense cases. Long hours. But they're good people,' Holly said, kissing Gail just behind the ear. 'You know I love you.'

'I love you too. I can't believe how lucky I was to find you,' Gail said feeling sleep overtake her again as Holly tightened her arm around her waist.

…..

In the morning Gail woke to more kisses just behind her ear. Holly was once again pressed up against Gail with an arm around her waist.

'You know what happened in my office yesterday,' Holly said.

'Um yeah,' Gail was suddenly wide-awake.

'We can't do that again.'

'We can't have sex again or we can't have sex in your office.'

'My office of course,' Holly laughed, brushing her lips against Gail's earlobe. She moved her hand from Gail's waist to splay across her stomach and then down further still. Gail was definitely awake now.

'You are indefatigable,' she said, starting to turn but Holly kept her there and pressed her center against Gail's ass. Gail pushed back into her just as Holly moved her fingers to Gail's clit and began an up and down rhythm Gail liked.

Holly moved her other hand to Gail's breast, rolling the nipple between her fingers, and placing a trail of kisses along Gail's neck. Oh yes, Gail was definitely awake now. She came ridiculously quickly, somehow the not seeing but feeling Holly, particularly the way she was thrusting up against Gail's ass, exciting her almost as much as Holly's well-practiced fingers. Gail turned in Holly's arms to find her smiling.

'I was lucky to find you,' Holly said, picking up the thread of the conversation from last night and making Gail laugh affectionately.

She kissed Holly, pulling at her bottom lip and Holly responded immediately. Then Gail made her way down Holly's body. She knew Holly was already fairly worked up so she didn't linger long. Stopping only to run her tongue across Holly's nipple, and tweak the other with her fingers before trailing kisses to her center. Gail blew on Holly's clit making her moan and push her hips upwards.

'Impatient,' Gail teased, and then she took the nub in her mouth and pushed two of her fingers inside Holly. It didn't take long before Holly was gasping adorably, and then, when she was finally done, giving that delighted, contented laugh Gail never tired of hearing. Gail gently removed her fingers and moved back up to kiss Holly.

'What brought that on?' Gail laughed as the kiss finished.

Holly looked sheepish. 'Ah,' was all she said.

'Yeah? ' Gail pulled back slightly to get a good view of Holly's face, 'ah and?'

'It was all that talk about sex in my office and then I had a flash of it,' Holly trailed off, coloring a little.

Gail laughed again. ' Oh nerd,' she said, pretending to sound pitying.

'Don't act like you didn't like it,' Holly challenged, Gail's teasing making her regain her poise.

'Never,' Gail said firmly, 'I can't imagine ever tiring of sex with you Holly Stewart.'

'And I've never had a girlfriend who liked sex as much as you.'

'Yeah,' Gail crinkled her brow. Maybe it was too much. Holly had never complained and Gail had always felt the attraction, the need to touch one another, the sheer delight in the physical side of their relationship was entirely mutual. Had she misread it, Gail wondered.

'That's okay, isn't it?' she said, the doubt she was feeling making her voice small.

'More than okay,' Holly smiled, the lopsided smile that always made Gail melt a little. 'Hey wait,' she said, propping herself on an elbow and regarding Gail keenly, 'you didn't think I had a problem with that did you?'

'No, um, well,' Gail said, 'I just got worried. I'm stupid.'

'Honey,' Holly dipped her head down to kiss Gail, pulling at her top lip in such a way it made Gail want to continue the kiss.

Gail marveled at Holly's ability to draw her in, to make her immediately want more, the frisson Holly's touch elicited so readily giving way to an urgent exploration of one another's bodies. Gail had always liked sex. In fact always believed sex was something she was good at, but never had it felt like this. Never had she been so selfless in her desire to please someone else. Past sexual encounters seemed insipid compared to the intensity, the completeness she and Holly had.

As she mulled this over, Gail realized, of course, Holly felt the same way and she was stupid to worry. And she stopped worrying because, in the next moment, Holly had flipped her over with the intention of doing to Gail exactly what Gail had just done to her.

….

The early morning activities made Gail and Holly late. They got downstairs to find Frankie and Chloe had already had breakfast. Frankie was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and tapping her foot impatiently.

'Geez, do you two ever stop,' she scowled, guessing immediately what Gail and Holly had been up to.

Holly became a little flustered but Gail shrugged and said 'Nah,' which only caused Frankie to scowl even more. The sooner she sorted out this commitment thing with Alannah the better for everyone, Gail thought.

Holly made her own way to the morgue while Gail and Chloe caught a ride with Frankie to the station, which Frankie pronounced dourly was an efficient use of time. Given Frankie's mood, Gail wasn't about to argue.

'Hey,' Dov said by way of greeting as the three women entered the detective pen, 'you want the good news?'

'Well, yeah,' Gail said as if Dov were an imbecile.

'For that, I might not tell you,' Dov threatened a little sulkily.

'What. All I said was yeah.'

'It was your tone.'

'Now, now children settle down,' Frankie said sarcastically, 'what is it Dov?'

'Dr Francine Hart. I contacted the president of Doctors Against Animal Experimentation. Seems like she was quite the avid emailer. DAAE just forwarded all the emails she sent out on their behalf to pharmaceutical companies asking them to stop testing on animals, including one to Frank Gimlet.'

'Shit,' Gail said.

'Yeah, the letters were supposed to be firm but polite but it seems Dr Hart embellished a little. Threatened direct action against these companies if they kept experimenting on animals.'

'What kind of direct action?' Frankie asked.

'You know pickets and boycotts of their products. Publishing the names and photographs of CEOs on the Internet. It was too extreme even for DAAE. They kicked her out.'

'Shit,' Gail said again.

'And I've been going through Dr Hart's phone records. Seems she was in contact with her second cousin a lot more than she claimed. There are a bunch of calls to John Brierley's cell.

'Shit,' Gail said.

'Is that all you're going to say, Gail?' Dov said.

'Actually, it's probably all she should say,' Frankie said, 'I think we need to bring Dr Hart in for another chat, but Gail you can't be anywhere near the interview room.'

'Not even on the observation side?' Gail asked.

'I guess that would be okay,' Frankie sighed, 'this case is a mess.'

'You better tell Fiona Vincent we're bringing in Dr Hart,' Chloe said.

Frankie nodded. 'Yeah, I might clear it with her first. Just so everything is above board.'

'We also need to speak to Gimlet about the email when he gets back from his trip tomorrow,' Gail said.

'Yep,' Frankie agreed, 'why don't you and Chloe start with his secretary. See if she can confirm his story about the head. She's also likely to know if anyone inside EquanimityPlus was threatening him. She might have even seen the email.'

…

Lisa had suggested lunch at a café near the hospital, and Holly agreed. Ever since she and Gail had got back together, Holly hadn't spent much time with Lisa and it made her feel guilty. Especially as it transpired this was Lisa's greatest fear about Holly settling into a serious relationship, and part of what had actually made her so antagonistic toward Gail the first time they met.

It was hard, though. Gail and Lisa had arrived at a begrudging sort of friendship, mainly for Holly's sake. Although Holly suspected the more the two women got to know each other, the more they found to respect. Like? Well, that was another matter. The snipping when they got together was usually exhausting, so as much as possible Holly tried to see Lisa on her own. Bigger gatherings worked, the presence of others giving Lisa and Gail less opportunity for barbed comments.

Still, Lisa had recently informed Holly she was 'team Gail,' because 'let's face it Hols, she makes you deliriously happy.' It was still said as though Lisa were making something of a grand concession for Holly's sake, and she did have to add, 'and based on what I've unfortunately walked in on, Gail is a sex machine so why would you let go of that?' Holly had sighed heavily.

The café was new and hipster, the coffee-machine taking center place on the marble counter top. The sides of the counter were made from recycled wood planks and the counter itself ran nearly the length of the room, with space for people to sit bar style. The walls were exposed brick, there was a blackboard menu and both of the baristas wore blue t-shirts and beanies. Holly wondered if it were some sort of uniform and if the beanies were ditched in summer. Lisa was running late so she snagged a table in a section out back.

The first sip of her coffee confirmed Lisa's hyperbole about the coffee being to die for. The second sip coincided with a shadow falling across the table. Holly, who had taken her glasses off to catch up on a journal article on her iPad, was so absorbed she didn't notice the new arrival until the table was thrown into gloom. Holly expected Lisa, but when she looked up she couldn't help but do a double-take. It was Francine Hart. Smiling in a way she probably thought sultry, but to Holly made her look like a simpleton.

'Amazing coffee isn't it,' Francine said, somehow making the simple statement leering and suggestive or so it seemed to Holly. She wondered whether, given she was so repulsed by Francine, she was reading too much into her behavior.

'Um,' Holly said. She couldn't figure out why Francine, having lodged a formal complaint against Gail, would approach her. Holly reached for her glasses and pushed them onto her face, more as a barrier between she and Francine than from any desire to see her clearly.

'I said amazing coffee isn't it,' Francine said and made as if to sit down.

'Don't,' Holly hissed, her arm shooting out to block the chair. Where had that vehemence come from, Holly wondered. It certainly startled Francine. 'Don't sit down,' Holly continued more evenly, 'I'm meeting someone for lunch.'

'Oh,' Francine raised an eyebrow, 'well perhaps another time. What about dinner tomorrow night? I know this nice French restaurant that's opened up around the corner from where I live.'

'Francine,' Holly said, aware her brow was furrowed in disbelief. The audacity of this woman was mindboggling. 'Are you asking me on a date?'

'Well yes.' The smile, the one Francine imagined was sultry was back in place. Holly had the sense the doctor's eyes had narrowed keenly as if sensing Holly was about to cave and agree to go out with her.

'Francine, you know I have a girlfriend. In fact, I'm now living with Gail. I'm very, very happy with Gail. In fact extremely happy with her and totally serious about her and I have absolutely no wish to date anyone else. Ever again.'

Having to share how she felt about Gail with Francine made Holly extremely annoyed but spelling it out seemed like the only way to force the woman to back off.

'You moved in with that cop?' Francine scoffed, 'I think you'll find she's about to be taken down a peg or two.'

'Are you referring to your complaint?' Holly asked, barely able to keep her anger in check. It had rocketed through her like it was a puck on those high strikers you found in carnivals that if struck hard went up and up and up until, if you were strong enough, it hit the bell at the top. A test of strength. Well, this situation was certainly that, or at least a test of strength of character, of Holly's ability to restrain herself in the face of Francine's amorality.

'Given you have made a complaint against my girlfriend,' Holly made sure she emphasized 'my' and 'girlfriend' and then continued, 'and that the complaint is the subject of a live investigation, I think it advisable we don't speak. In fact Francine, I would appreciate it if you left me alone.'

'Why so formal, Holly?' Francine reached out a hand as if to touch Holly's arm, and Holly instinctively shrank back.

'You heard her, Hart, back off.' It was Lisa. Holly had been so focused on dealing with Francine she hadn't seen Lisa arrive.

'This has nothing to do with you Lisa,' Francine said, half shrugging as if indicate Lisa was inconsequential.

'Oh yes, it does. Holly and Gail are my friends. Gail is Holly's girlfriend. End of story. Now beat it before I tell Sergeant Vincent you're trying to interfere in her investigation.'

Francine regarded her with hostility. Holly was reminded of that phrase looking daggers. It described Francine's expression to a T.

'Oh, I forgot you've gone blue collar too. I guarantee you'll both tire of slumming it eventually.' With that, Francine turned on her heel and left. Flounced out, Holly decided.

'Fuck, what an elitist bitch,' Lisa said, and then caught Holly's smirk. 'Shit, is that how it felt?'

'Worse,' Holly admitted, 'because you were my best friend and I cared about what you thought.'

'Oh,' Lisa said, her expression contrite, which was not an attitude she was particularly familiar with. 'I don't think I've ever really apologized for what I said, Hols. I was an ass.'

'Well, yeah, a total ass,' Holly nodded, 'but it's water under the bridge now.'

'Yeah,' Lisa brightened, 'Actually, I appreciate you haven't given me shit for dating Fiona. You do know we're going to have to tell Fiona about Francine speaking to you. Make sure everything is straight down the line, for Gail's sake at least.'

Holly nodded again. 'I can't believe I got Gail into this mess.'

'I can't believe I found Francine hot for five minutes,' Lisa said.

It was more than five minutes but Holly didn't have the energy to call Lisa on it. Nor did she point out Lisa was the one who encouraged Francine to take up the position at the hospital.

'Shit, I told her to move to Toronto,' Lisa said as if reading Holly's mind. 'Wait, you don't think Francine is using this complaint as some sort of elaborate and, might I add, very fucked up way to get Gail out of the picture so she can date you?'

'It does seem far-fetched and it's arrogant to think someone would go to such lengths to date me. Maybe it's just payback.'

'If Francine can't have you, she'll do anything possible to make Gail's life hell.'

'It would explain why she made the complaint,' Holly shrugged, 'because Lisa, you don't actually believe Gail harassed Francine.'

'God no, but this makes Francine a complete psycho. Remember that time she chased you into Rachel's kitchen and tried to kiss you. Maybe we should have seen this coming.'

'That's what Gail called her.'

'Called her what?'

'A psycho.'

…

Like her surname, Marjorie Flint was hard and unemotional. She was probably no more than thirty, dressed in stilettos and a tight pencil skirt, but her clipped, no-nonsense manner made her seem older. Gimlet and Flint, it sounded like a law firm or a comedy act, Gail decided. Marjorie confirmed Gimlet's 3D head had been placed in the store cupboard, and as far as she was concerned, that's where it should still be.

'Nothing comes in or out of this office without me knowing,' she said, drawing her body up so it was ramrod straight. She said it like it was a matter of professional pride. A mega controller, Gail guessed. She bet Marjorie was a bitch to the rest of the staff.

'Except this head,' Gail pointed out.

Marjorie made a little moue of annoyance.

'Did John Brierly ever come into the office?' Gail asked.

'Not that I recall,' Marjorie said briskly, 'Mr Gimlet has nothing to do with hiring at that lower level. That's Helen Marino's remit.'

'Any reason someone might threaten Mr Gimlet?' Gail asked, 'someone he may have put offside.'

'No. None I can think of.'

'So no disgruntled employee?'

'Of course, there are always disgruntled employees, even if we look after them well here. High wages, good benefits, generous leave provisions. You know people who believe they've been overlooked for promotions or just generally believe he world owes them.'

'So can you give us names?'

'No one springs to mind. I was speaking generally.'

Gail exchanged a look with Chloe. She really felt like rolling her eyes but that was highly unprofessional. She didn't need a second complaint made about her.

'No employee ever expressed opposition to testing on animals, or voiced their concern about it?' Chloe asked.

'Detective Price,' Marjorie said, 'testing on animals is core to our business. You wouldn't work here if you were uncomfortable with it.'

'Do you recall seeing an email from DAAE – Doctors against Animal Experimentation - addressed to Mr Gimlet?' Chloe said.

'Nope. Never heard of the group.' The way Marjorie shook her head was perhaps a tad too fast, Gail thought.

'The email contained inflammatory language and directly threatened Mr Gimlet. Does that ring a bell?' Chloe tried again.

'No,' Marjorie said tetchily.

'What's Gimlet like as a boss?' Gail asked, changing tack.

Marjorie faltered for just a moment, but enough that Gail saw her eyes dart to the left while she composed the lie she was about to tell. 'Good. Excellent. Very professional.'

'So you enjoy working for him?' Chloe asked quietly.

'Of course. Now if that is all, I have much work to do.'

'One last question,' Gail said and paused as Marjorie looked at her impatiently, 'the day of the protest – the animal rights one - was Gimlet at work.'

'I can't even remember what day it was.'

'Friday 22 July,' Gail supplied, 'I assume you have a copy of Gimlet's diary on your computer. Want to check.'

Marjorie sighed heavily and bent over her computer. Two clicks of the mouse later, she straightened and said 'he was out of town. The Pharmaceutical Development and Technology Conference in Pittsburg. It ran for three days.'

'And Gimlet definitely attended?' Gail asked.

'Yes. I accompanied him. He was definitely there.'

Marjorie insisted on escorting them out. It made Gail realize whenever they were at Equanimity Plus they were closely monitored. Not once had they been left alone. In fact, on their first visit, Frankie had asked to use the bathroom and was accompanied there and back by Helen Marino's assistant.

Was Gimlet worried about what they might see if they wandered around? Was the thing Gail was so convinced Gimlet was hiding right here under their noses?

'Dead ends, that's where this case is leading,' Gail said to Chloe once they were on the sidewalk.

'Marjorie was lying about liking Gimlet as a boss,' Chloe said.

'You picked that up too.'

Chloe nodded. 'I wonder what it was about?'

Gail shrugged. 'And why when we spoke to him did Gimlet give the impression he was here during the protest? It doesn't make any sense.'

…..

Back at 15, Frankie told Gail to make herself scarce. 'Francine Hart and her lawyer are coming in. Fiona Vincent is observing the interview. Now Vincent's involved I can't have you anywhere near this, even as an observer. Chloe, I need you in the interview with me.'

Gail made her way into the detective pen, a scowl on her face. Dov was there going through Brierly's phone records.

'Need something to distract you?' he asked and Gail nodded. 'Want to go through the raw footage CTV took of the demo outside EquanimityPlus. You might spot something I've missed.'

Gail arched an eyebrow. 'You admitting to being sloppy, Dov?'

'What? No! That's not what I meant,' Dov protested and then when he saw Gail was grinning wickedly, he said, 'oh shut Gail and watch the video.'

Gail laughed but did as she was told. Half an hour later she pressed pause. 'Dov, come take a look at this,' she tried not to sound excited.

'What?' Dov wheeled his chair over to Gail's desk.

'Look,' Gail pointed to the screen and pressed play. Several EquanimityPlus workers were trying to push their way through the protesters who had linked arms to block access to the building. The two sides started to jostle, the protesters chanting loudly 'Animals have rights too,' and some of the workers hurled abuse.

In the very corner of the frame, one of the protesters stepped toward a worker and appeared to whisper something to him. The worker nodded and smiled.

The protester was wearing the same mouse mask as the man caught by the surveillance camera outside Elspeth and Mimi's shop. The man who was carrying the exact same crate Brierly's head was found in, and who very likely was about to cross the street to dump the crate in the vacant lot opposite.

And the man he was speaking to at the protest? John Brierly. Gail was certain of it. The camera only caught the two for a few seconds before panning in the opposite direction to pick up Andy and Robinson arriving on the scene.

'It's Brierly,' Gail said rewinding the video and pressing play again, 'it's him and mouse man.'

'I think you're right,' Dov agreed, 'what's the bet mouse man is Dominic Swartz.'

Gail rewound the video and played it again. 'What does that smile say to you? A job well done?'

Dov considered for a moment. 'Sure looks like it.'

….

Gail wished the interview with Francine Hart would wind up. It was getting on to 6 pm and she was dying to show Frankie what she had discovered on the video. She also wanted to know what Francine had to say for herself. It seemed like the surgeon knew far more about Brierly's life than she had let on. Gail was annoyed with herself for not picking up on that. She was normally good at reading people in interviews, but maybe Francine's weird obsession with Holly had thrown her.

As she waited, Gail alternated between tapping her pen on the desk and pacing up and down the pen. Finally, Dov got sick of it.

'Gail,' he said, holding out some coins, 'go to the vending machine out front and buy some cheese puffs.'

Gail screwed up her face. 'I don't eat cheese puffs anymore, Dov,' she said like he should know, 'I'm trying to be healthy.'

'This once I don't think eating cheese puffs will kill you, but I might if you tap your pen on your desk one more time.'

'Charming,' Gail stood up and held out her hand, 'give.' Dov handed the coins over with a sigh.

Out front, she didn't make it to the vending machine because Holly was there. Smiling at her and it made Gail feel warm and happy and forget how irritated she'd felt in the moment before.

'Hey,' Holly said.

'Courier sick,' Gail quipped.

'Ha! No. Alannah suggested catching up at the Penny for a drink. I just swung by to see if you and Frankie were free.'

'Come through,' Gail said, taking Holly by the hand and leading her past the desk. Officer Moore was on duty again and gave them both a nod.

Once in the corridor, they literally ran into Corey Beaumont and Francine coming out of the interview room. Corey's suit looked like it cost more than most people made in a month. His hair was stylishly coiffed, possibly dyed now Gail decided, and his aftershave was pungent. 'Straight to heaven' that was what it was called, or so Corey had told Gail on that one desultory date. One of the most expensive cologne's for men, he'd bragged as if that would impressive her.

Corey stopped and took in Gail. The combat boots, the black jeans, the blue shirt and the leather jacket. The short blonde hair. She was still holding Holly's hand and he took that in as well.

'I can see why our date went nowhere,' he said imperiously.

Gail went to reply, to say something smart and snarky about Corey's shortcomings as a suitor but Holly squeezed her hand warningly. Gail sighed. It was probably sensible not to antagonize Corey further given he was representing Francine. Gail bit back the retort and smiled instead but it was that lethal one. One hundred watts of venom, Holly thought.

Francine had noticed Gail was holding Holly's hand too, her gaze flicking from their entwined fingers to their faces but she didn't say anything. In fact, she seemed somewhat subdued.

Frankie appeared out of the interview room then. 'Oh,' she said as she caught sight of the four, and Gail was certain she swore under her breath. 'I'll escort you out,' she said, bustling Corey and Francine along in front of her.

'What were you two doing in the corridor?' Frankie asked irritably when she came back to the detective pen.

'Uh, I work here,' Gail said dryly.

'And you went to get Holly from out front,' Frankie sighed. Gail didn't bother correcting her. She didn't really want to admit she'd gone in search of cheese puffs. 'Hell of a time to pick for a visit, Holly.'

'Yeah,' Holly pushed off from where she was leaning on Gail's desk, knowing she sounded annoyed. Frankie was being unreasonable. It was not like she and Gail had planned to run into Francine ad her overly slick lawyer. 'I'm going to meet Alannah at the Penny for a drink. See you guys there later?'

Frankie nodded tersely, 'We shouldn't be long.'

'It was just unfortunate timing,' Gail said after Holly left, 'surely Corey and Francine aren't going to see it as harassment.'

'After that interview, I have a feeling Dr Hart will be dropping the complaint altogether. Seems she was in contact with Brierly. In fact, he was feeding her information about some of EquanimityPlus' practices, even while she was still in San Francisco.'

'So that was bullshit about barely knowing him?' Gail asked.

'Yep. They met at a family thing in the states and when Francine told him about her involvement in DAAE Brierly opened up. It's what prompted her to write the threatening email to Gimlet.'

'Yeah, according to Francine not only is EquanimityPlus mistreating animals but it's sourcing them illegally,' Chloe added, 'apparently Brierly was about to provide Francine with evidence he claimed would shut the company down for good, but then he was murdered.'

'And her story sounded legit?'

'Yeah,' Frankie nodded.

'What about Dominic Swartz?' Gail asked.

'Apparently, Brierly met him in a chat room. That's as much as Francine knew. He said Swartz was behind the protest at EquanimityPlus and promised to introduce him to Francine,' Frankie said.

'So if Francine is telling the truth and Brierly had something on EquanimityPlus explosive enough to put it out of business then that might give Gimlet a motive.'

'Yep,' Frankie nodded, 'when does he get back from his business trip?'

'Tomorrow afternoon,' Gail said, 'think we need another chat?'

'For sure, you know how edifying it is talking to Mr Gimlet' Frankie laughed mirthlessly, 'meantime Dov, first thing tomorrow I need you to go through Brierly's computer. See if you can find those chat room conversations with Swartz.'

Dov nodded. 'It could take a while, but if we're lucky we may be able to trace Swartz's IP address and get some details from his service provider. Home address. Telephone number. That sort of thing. Although if he was careful, he might have used a different IP address.'

'About Swartz. Take a look at this,' Gail said, pointing to her computer and the paused CTV footage, 'Brierly spoke to mouse man at the protest.'

'Shit,' Frankie said after Gail played the video, 'you're thinking mouse man is Swartz.'

'Could be,' Gail nodded, 'what if Swartz aka mouse man is working for Gimlet.' She paused and held up her hand as Frankie frowned, 'hear me out. I know it sounds implausible, but what if Swartz was employed to keep an eye on any troublemakers. Report back to Gimlet. Maybe contain any protest action. It's not the first time a company has employed someone to infiltrate a radical fringe group. It would make sense if Gimlet is up to something illegal with animal testing.'

'And what? Swartz killed Brierly on Gimlet's say so. Yeah, it's far-fetched,' Frankie said, 'not that I'm dismissing it completely. You get points for creativity, though.'

'Yeah, yeah,' Gail grumbled.

Frankie decided they should call it a day then and head to the Penny. Arriving at the bar, the four detectives found Holly and Alannah in a booth in the corner.

Frankie made a beeline for the bar, saying she'd get the first round, which suited Gail. She slid into the booth next to Holly, right up close so their hips were touching, and, without saying anything, kissed Holly on the lips. Holly gave a low chuckle and moved her hand to Gail's thigh. Only then did Gail look up and greet Alannah.

She was looking across at them wistfully like they had something she hankered after. Frankie was not one for public displays of affection, Gail was well aware of that. Was that the cause of Alannah's longing expression? Alannah almost immediately switched her gaze to where Frankie stood at the bar with her back to them. Was Frankie actively avoiding Alannah? She had been very insistent about buying drinks, Gail realized.

Dov and Chloe slid in next to Alannah and, in the next moment, Frankie appeared with a tray of beers. She gave a nod in Alannah's direction as she placed the tray on the table. Dov and Chloe jumped up to make room for her next to Alannah, but Frankie waved them off and told them to sit back down.

Gail looked across at Alannah and watched as her face went from expectant to closed off. Fuck, what was Anderson playing at, Gail wondered as Frankie, having handed out the beers, perched at the end of the bench next to Dov and took a huge swig of her own drink. Brooding, that's what she was doing, Gail decided.

With Alannah there, work talk was off limits, so much of the conversation revolved around Chloe's plan to move to Dov's place that weekend.

'As long the case doesn't get in the way,' Chloe said, 'but I have started to pack already.'

'Sounds like this case has been hectic. I haven't seen Frankie at all these past couple of days,' Alannah said.

They had been busy but not that busy, Gail thought. Yep, Frankie was definitely avoiding Alannah. In fact, she was barely contributing to the conversation apart from the occasional grunt.

When Chloe and Dov decided to go play darts, Frankie sat down again on the edge of the bench. Alannah took the opportunity to scoot closer to her, placing a hand on her arm and leaning in as if to kiss her on the cheek. However before her lips could reach their intended target, Frankie bolted out of the booth.

'Another round' she said, already turning toward the bar.

'No,' Alannah was also standing now. 'I'm going home. Nice talking to you Holly and Gail.'

Frankie had half swiveled around when Alannah started speaking and now she stood motionless as if frozen.

'And Frankie grow up,' Alannah said as she swept past her girlfriend.

Frankie remained rooted to the spot for a moment watching Alannah as she walked out the door. Then she turned to Gail and Holly, her expression stricken. 'Fuck, what have I done?'

'Just go after her,' Gail said urgently, 'and Frankie, don't sabotage this.' With that, Frankie took off at a run.

Holly screwed up her face. 'Oh, poor Alannah. Frankie has a long way to go when it comes to learning to trust.'

'Some people might have said the same thing about me when I met you,' Gail pointed out.

'You're a much faster learner than Frankie,' Holly teased and, smiling, leaned across to kiss Gail, 'anyway you were much more relaxed about commitment than I was. I mean who went to San Francisco?'

Gail laughed. 'Yeah, well at least Frankie's gone after Alannah. In the past, she would have reacted by screwing half the lesbians in Toronto.'

'Progress then,' Holly smiled and took a swig of her beer.

'I better get another round,' Gail offered. She'd just put her order in at the bar when her phone rang. It was Duncan.

'I've been trying to get hold of Detective Anderson but she's not picking up,' he explained, 'I'm on desk duty and a courier just delivered a USB I think you're going to want to take a look at.'

'Yeah, why is that Gerald?' Gail said.

'It's labeled Animal torture at EquanimityPlus.'

 


	39. Thirty-nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters.
> 
> Sorry for the delay in updating. Juggling two fics is tricky, then it got busy at work and then I got sick with a virus and didn’t have much time or energy to write. Hopefully, this chapter hasn’t suffered from my somewhat befuddled head.
> 
> Thanks as always for the comments, kudos, subscriptions and for reading. It really is so great to hear what you think.
> 
> Apologies for mistakes (blame the virus befuddled head). Hope you enjoy.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The images were brutal and shocking. Animals jammed into tiny cages, lying in their own feces, their coats matted and even mangy. In one shot, a lab tech literally booted a cowering dog into its cage, shutting the door so its leg was painfully caught but the animal had no fight left to yelp or even whimper. 

The look of misery in the dog’s face was too terrible to watch, and Gail found herself turning away. She heard Holly suck in her breath, and sensed Dov and Chloe tensing behind her. Gail paused the video. She felt sick. The four of them were silent for a while. Holly placed a hand on Gail’s shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze.

‘This is, this is,’ Gail began and then stopped. She couldn’t find the words to encompass the horror of what they had just seen.

‘Reprehensible,’ Dov said, ‘I want to go and arrest Gimlet right now.’

‘Unfortunately this on its own isn’t evidence enough,’ Gail sighed, ‘we can’t prove it was even filmed in the labs at EquanimityPlus.’

‘What about the SPCA? Could you get them involved?’ Holly suggested.

‘Yeah, definitely,’ Gail agreed, ‘maybe they can do a spot inspection on the strength of this video. If so, we could accompany them.’

‘Meantime, tomorrow I’ll test the USB and the envelope it came in for fingerprints,’ Holly said. 

Gail nodded, ‘I bet they’re wiped clean. You’ll probably only find prints belonging to Gerald and the boy who delivered it.’

‘What I don’t get,’ Chloe suddenly said, speaking for the first time since the video had finished, ‘is all those dogs are mismatched. They look like family pets not like they were bred specially for experimentation.’ 

Chloe had a point, Gail thought, realizing what she’d assumed was stunned silence was actually Chloe puzzling over the video. Not that she would have blamed Chloe for being overwhelmed by the images they’d just seen.

‘True,’ Holly agreed, ‘labs are supposed to source their animals from licensed breeders or licensed dealers who can prove the animals were legally obtained and not stolen. But every now and again you hear of dealers being busted for not complying – they don’t have the paperwork to prove the animals are legit. It usually coincides with a spate of dog thefts from family homes.’ 

‘So you’re saying there’s an underground market in animals sold for experimentation,’ Gail said and Holly nodded, ‘and I’m guessing a small company like EquanimityPlus might be tempted to buy those animals because it’s cheaper than going through a licensed dealer.’

‘Yep, especially when the going rate for a purebred Beagle is upwards of one thousand dollars.’

‘How’d you know all this stuff?’ Dov asked.

‘Brain the size of a planet,’ Gail explained in a way that was both matter of fact and proud, and Holly colored slightly. ‘Plus Holly campaigned against animal experimentation in college.’

‘So do you think labs might treat animals more cruelly if they get them cheap?’ Dov asked.

‘I think to experiment on animals you have to stop seeing them as sentient beings, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to do this kind of work, and once you do that, switch off empathy, you no longer see your actions as cruel or question the morality of it,’ Holly made a grim face, ‘but I’m speaking from the perspective of someone who believes animals should only be tested on as an absolute last resort.’ 

‘So whether the animals were cheap or not doesn’t necessarily make a difference to the way the animals are treated,’ Chloe said.

‘Nope,’ Holly shook her head, ‘ but I think just the fact of keeping animals in cages in labs is unnatural and cruel. That said there are plenty of institutions that do their best to treat animals well, as much as they can do given some of the experiments cause enormous suffering. I guess it gets down to the culture of a place. ‘

‘So given people who experiment on animals have already desensitized themselves to the animals’ suffering, if a place has a culture of needlessly treating animals badly it’s not hard for an employee to take that next step and do the same,’ Gail said.

‘Yep,’ Holly agreed gravely.

‘It’s sadistic,’ Dov said.

Before any more was said on the issue, Duncan appeared in the detective pen.

‘Uh Detective, Doctor,’ he said, as usual giving the impression he was tripping over his words even if he wasn’t, ‘Paul Rusnak’s father’s here. I’ve put them in interview one.’

‘Okay, we’ll be there shortly. Holly, you’ve got your lunchbox in the car, right? If Paul agrees can you fingerprint him once we’ve finished the interview.’

‘Yes, Gail,’ Holly half rolled her eyed, ‘I’ve got my forensic kit.’ 

‘Isn’t that what I said nerd,’ Gail teased and turned to Dov, ‘hey do you want to interview the delivery boy with me?’

‘Sure,’ Dov replied.

‘What about Frankie?’ Chloe asked, ‘do you want me to keep trying her?’

Chloe and Dov hadn’t witnessed Frankie leaving the Penny in pursuit of Alannah, but the tension between the two women had been palpable so they didn’t need to be geniuses to put two and two together. They knew Frankie wasn’t answering her phone, even though Gail had kept trying to call ever since Duncan contacted her about the USB.

‘Yeah,’ Gail nodded, ‘and if she doesn’t get back to you in the next half hour let’s ping her phone.’

Holly exchanged a look with Gail. It clearly bothered Gail that Frankie wasn’t answering her phone. Normally she always picked up work calls, especially when she was leading an investigation. In fact, she was fastidious about it. And yes, Frankie was most likely making amends with Allanah, or at worst somewhere licking her wounds, perhaps even drinking herself into oblivion. Even if these were likely explanations for Frankie’s radio silence, Holly knew exactly where Gail’s mind had gone. 

Where most people would be unconcerned by Frankie’s disappearance, especially under the circumstances, Gail couldn’t help, well not exactly giving in to, but at least allowing her worse imaginings. It wasn’t that she was catastrophizing. No, it was that chill fear which was a legacy of Perick and which Holly had come to realize Gail would never completely shake. What if something had happened to Frankie and they did nothing about it until it was too late. Gail didn’t have to say it out loud for Holly to understand that was exactly what she was thinking.

‘Isn’t that excessive?’ Dov asked, ‘she’s probably with Alannah and definitely won’t appreciate the intrusion. I mean, all of this can wait until morning can’t it.’

‘Humor me Dov. If Frankie’s phone turns up at either her or Alannah’s house, I’ll let it go.’

‘But,’ Dov started and then stopped himself as it dawned on him why Gail was so concerned. ‘Okay, sounds fair enough,’ he said.

‘Why don’t I try Allanah,’ Holly suggested, ‘it’ll give me something to do while you speak with the boy.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Paul Rusnak was anything but a boy. He looked to be about sixteen. At least six foot, he was a little gangly, like he still had some growing to do to fill out his frame. His black hair was long on top and undercut, with a side part so the longer strands flopped over the right of his face, exposing the shaved left side. His peers probably thought it made him look edgy and a bit bad boy, Gail thought. 

Paul’s father, who was seated next to him, stood as Gail and Dov entered the room. ‘Peter Rusnak,’ he said extending his hand in a firm handshake. He looked very like Paul. Tall, with black hair shot through with a few flecks of grey, he was probably in his late forties. Too old and too dark to pass for Dominic Swartz.

'This won't take long,' Gail said, 'we just have a few questions.'

'And it’s in relation to an ongoing investigation. That's what Officer Moore said.'

'Yes,' Gail confirmed, 'but we can't give you any more details at this stage.'

Rusnak gave a quick nod and resumed hos seat next to his son.

'Paul, I want to reassure you that you are not in any trouble here. We just need to find out why you delivered the package. It would really help if you could try and remember as many details as you can,' Gail said softly. 

She looked directly at Paul and it was like empathy and sincerity rolled off her in waves. Dov could see how it immediately put Paul at ease, and he marveled at Gail's ability to connect with kids, especially as she was so often abrasive with adults. Though come to think of, she had been much more chill since Holly’s return, Dov decided. Paul nodded at Gail, and Dov realized despite his height and cool haircut, he was just a kid, overwhelmed at finding himself being questioned by two detectives.

'So,' Gail said, ' can you start from the beginning and tell us how it was that you came to deliver this package to 15.’

‘I was just hanging with friends, down in the park on Jennifer Street, and this dude came up to me and asked if I wanted to make $50. I kinda of looked at him like he was weird, just in case he was a creeper, although he asked in front of a whole bunch of us so I figured he wasn’t.’

‘And then,’ Gail prodded gently.

‘He pulled out the envelope and said he needed it delivered to some detectives at 15 and he’d give me $50 bucks to do it.’

‘And did you ask why he couldn’t deliver it himself?’ 

Paul shrugged. ‘I was on my bike. It’s a five-minute ride. It seemed like easy money. I did joke with him, saying you’re not asking me to deliver anthrax or something.’

‘What did he say?’

‘He laughed. He actually seemed like a straight up and down guy. He said it was evidence to help a case, and he didn’t want to get personally involved but the detectives would be happy to get the information. So I took the money and delivered the envelope. I could tell by the shape and feel that it had a USB in it.’

‘What did he look like?’ Dov asked.

‘He was white, wearing a hoodie but I could see he had fair hair. Clean-shaven. He was just, I don’t know friendly. Pretty cool. That’s why I felt okay doing the job for him,’ Paul said, suddenly a little defensive now Dov was asking a question.

‘It's okay, Paul,’ Gail reassured him, ‘you did nothing wrong. I know this man said he didn’t want to get involved, but we think he might be able to help us with our investigation.’

‘What about what’s on the USB?’

‘Did you take a look at that?’ Dov said sharply.

‘No,’ Paul said dismissively, drawing out the no, ‘I just wanted to deliver it and get back to my friends. One of the girls from school is having a party tonight and we were heading there.’

‘How old did this guy look?’ Dov said.

‘Ahh I dunno,’ Paul shrugged, ‘older than me. Like maybe mid twenties but he spoke kinda well, if you know what I mean. It wasn’t like he was some crim.’

Gail smiled at that. Ah criminal stereotypes. Sometimes they were spot on but how often had she arrested someone who seemed like your average nice guy. ‘You mean he wasn’t a thug?’

Paul nodded.

‘Would you say he came across as well educated? Was quite well-dressed?’

‘Yeah, definitely. Cool jeans. Designer. Saint Laurent. They’re really expensive.’

Paul didn’t have much to add after that but he and his father agreed Holly could fingerprint him for the purpose of elimination. While Holly packed up her gear, Gail escorted the Rusnaks out. Elaine was in the corridor when she returned.

‘Well handled, Detective’ she nodded approvingly.

‘What the interview with the kid?’ Gail scrunched up her face. Clearly Elaine had observed the interview through the one way-glass. Questioning Paul was really quite straightforward. Policing 101. It wasn’t like she needed to cross-examine the guy and she certainly didn’t deserve her mother’s praise. 

‘Where’s Detective Anderson?’ Elaine asked, ignoring Gail’s question and the fact she hadn’t addressed her formally as Superintendent.

‘Um, sick. Stomach thing. There’s something going round,’ Gail said, which wasn’t entirely untrue. They’d been short several uniforms because of stomach flu and Oliver had struggled to fill shifts, something Elaine would be aware of. Still, Gail was thankful she was well practiced at withstanding Elaine’s scrutiny. 

‘Very well,’ Elaine said after a moment, as if she were conceding to believe Gail at the moment, but reserved the right to change her mind. Gail wasn’t particularly worried. Her mother often spoke to her like that. ‘But I don’t think you should take the lead in Detective Anderson’s absence, given the delicacy around Dr Hart’s complaint.’

‘Mother the complaint was dropped, you must know that,’ Gail said sullenly, ‘besides I’m not taking the lead. Frankie will be back in the morning. It was a simple interview. It was best to do it tonight while the event was still fresh in the kid’s mind.’

‘Hmm,’ Elaine pursed her lips, ‘have Detective Anderson call me first thing tomorrow, unless she’s still indisposed of course.’ With that, the Superintendent swept down the corridor and out front. 

Sometimes Gail wondered whether her mother had put a tracking device on her or bugged the station, because these days she seemed to immediately materialize whenever something involving her daughter happened. Gail sincerely hoped Elaine didn’t have the interrogation rooms bugged, considering some of the encounters she’d had with Holly. Maybe it was just down to Elaine’s ‘Gail’ sense. That alarm Gail imagined went off in her mother’s head whenever Gail might be in danger of disgracing what was left of the Peck name.

‘Any word on Frankie?’ Gail asked as she came back into the pen.

Chloe shook her head and Holly looked a little worried. 

‘She’s not with Alannah. Apparently they had words in the car park of the Penny and then Alannah drove off,’ Holly explained, ‘I think Alannah’s a bit freaked out now.’

‘Shit,’ Gail said, ‘I didn’t think that through. Of course she would be. I just hoped Frankie would be with Alannah.’

‘But we pinged her phone,’ Chloe said, ‘and we’ve managed to narrow it to a block on Smith Street.’

‘Oh,’ Gail said. Smith Street was full of seedy bars and desperate low lifes, dealers and pimps selling all manner of merchandize. Few self-respecting cops would be seen there unless they were making an arrest. 

‘Could she have gone on a bender?’ Dov asked.

‘I dunno. It’s possible,’ Gail sighed, wishing she wasn’t the one having to make this call. 

Had Frankie fallen back into her self-destructive ways? Gail had hoped she might be more resolute, that what she had with Alannah was worth the effort of overcoming those long ingrained fears and insecurities. Gail had tried to tell Frankie it was, that she herself wouldn’t be with Holly if she’d given into her self-doubt, to her feelings of not being able to measure up to Holly, of not deserving happiness.

‘Well, that’s what she did when you two split, Gail’ Chloe said, ‘I think she was drunk for three days straight.’

Gail furrowed her brow.’ I didn’t know that.’

Dov coughed pointedly and made none too subtle eye movements in Holly’s direction.

‘It’s okay Dov, I know Gail and Frankie had a thing,’ Holly held out her hands, ‘you don’t need to spare my feelings.’

‘You think I haven’t told Holly about my past?’ Gail rolled her eyes, ‘geez Dov. Don’t you know about trust in a relationship.’

‘Yeah of course, it’s just you haven’t always been that communicative, I mean you don’t like to talk about your feelings to anyone even if you are dating them or maybe especially if you’re dating them and we all know Frankie was a rebound but,’ Dov sputtered to a halt as he realized Gail had fixed him with a stony look. ‘I should stop now.’

‘Probably wise,’ Holly nodded, but her expression was genial, ‘so that block on Smith Street. Is that where Kiki’s is?’

Gail turned now to face Holly, a look of astonishment on her face. ‘You know about Kiki’s?’

‘Um yeah and so it seems do you.’

‘Well, yeah I’m a police officer. We know these things.’

‘Do I dare ask?’ Dov said.

‘Kiki’s. It’s only the diviest of divey lesbian bars in Toronto,’ Chloe piped up.

Both Gail and Dov whipped their heads around to look at Chloe who shrugged.

‘I’ve been there. It’s not great.’

‘Yeah,’ Holly agreed, ‘I actually thought there was a good possibility I might catch something.’

Now Gail whipped her head back to Holly.

‘You’ve been there?’

‘Well, yeah. Years ago. It was Lisa’s idea. She thought it would be edgy and cool,’ Holly smirked.

‘And instead she found she was slumming it,’ Gail said acerbically. 

‘Yep,’ Chloe who had been busy on her computer, turned around, ‘it’s in the same block. Should we go check it out?’ 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Okay,’ Gail said when they pulled up outside the bar, ‘Chloe and I’ll go in. Holly and Dov, you stay in the car.’

Holly arched an eyebrow.

‘What?’ Gail asked.

‘I’m coming in,’ Holly said firmly.

‘You’re not a police officer,’ Gail protested.

‘As far as I aware this is not a police matter. We’re looking for a friend. I’ve been here before and I think,’ Holly slowly looked around at other three as if sizing them up, ‘I can safely say I’ve been a lesbian the longest, so yeah I’m coming in.’

‘Oh alright,’ Gail huffed, getting out of the car, ‘but just let me handle things inside.’

Kiki’s was dimly lit, which was probably a good thing Gail decided, otherwise you might notice how dingy it really was. Someone had had the bright idea of carpeting the floor, which was so stained and soiled it was hard to tell whether its gray color was original or whether the discoloration was the result of grime built up over the years. 

As they walked in, that particular smell of stale cigarettes and beer trapped in carpet fibers hit them. Gail could swear the carpet felt slushy like someone had hosed it down and never let it dry off. Or maybe it was just night after night of spilled drinks.

The place was small. A long and narrow corridor really, with a bar counter running along one side and tables opposite, leading to a small corner stage. A rather desultory drag act was taking place and about half the patrons had gathered around the stage to watch. The rest were either seated at tables or by the bar. 

Definitely a pick-up joint, Gail decided, heading for the bar to get the attention of one of the staff. A woman perched on a stool, with one elbow propped on the bar to steady her, whistled as Gail approached.

‘I think I just died and went to heaven because you are an angel,’ she said, making an attempt to straighten up on her stool.

Gail stopped abruptly and gave the woman one of her trademark Ice Queen stares. The woman, however, was far too drunk to notice or at least take offense. 

‘Come sit here baby,’ she patted the stool next to her, ‘I’ve been saving this seat just for you all night. Lemme buy you a drink.’

Holly and Chloe, who were right behind Gail, exchanged amused glances.

‘Uh,’ Gail said, surprised her glare hadn’t put the woman off. She signaled for the barkeep, but she’d moved further down the counter to serve another customer.

‘I’ll get Sadie’s attention,’ the woman said, and placed the tips of two fingers in either side of her mouth and gave an ear-piercing whistle. Sadie looked up irritably from where she pulling beers and indicated she’d be there in a minute. ‘What’s your poison, baby?’

‘I’m not here to drink,’ Gail said dismissively, keeping her gaze fixed on the barkeep. Her clear disinterest wasn’t enough to put the woman off, though.

‘Let me guess. You’re a girl who enjoys liquor, am I right?’ The woman didn’t wait for an answer. ‘I bet you like a Screwdriver or are you more a Sex on the Beach kinda of girl.’ She leered at Gail and winked, swaying slightly on the stool.

‘No,’ Gail said, her tone vexed and incredulous all at once.

‘Should we rescue her?’ Chloe whispered to Holly.

‘No,’ Holly shook her head and smirked, ‘Gail said she was going to handle this remember.’ Both she and Chloe chuckled and Gail twisted her head around to glare at them, which only increased their laughter.

Gail was saved by the appearance of Sadie. Before the inebriated woman could speak, Gail whipped out her badge and showed it to the barkeep. Chloe raised her eyebrows. Holly was right. This wasn’t exactly a police matter, but desperate times called for desperate measures and maybe Gail thought the badge might scare off her admirer.

‘Detective Peck,’ she said. If Gail had hoped this revelation would make the woman lose interest, she was sorely disappointed.

‘Baby, you just got a whole lot more sexy,’ the woman slurred, ‘I love a woman in uniform.’

Gail regarded her for a moment. ‘And I can categorically say I've never found bad pick up lines and pushiness a turn-on,’ she said, her voice sickly sweet but thick with disdain.

‘I’m just being friendly,’ the woman protested.

‘Oh ignore Sal,’ Sadie interrupted, ‘she’s all talk. What can I do for you detective?’

After Gail explained her business, Sadie retrieved a phone from near the till and slid it across the countertop to Gail. 

‘She left about 45 minutes ago. I didn’t realize she’d forgotten her phone until I went to wipe down the table she was sitting at.’

‘So was she with anyone?’

‘Dark-haired woman. Jen. She’s a semi-regular. One of your lot.’

‘Jen Luck?’ Gail asked.

‘Yeah, that’s right. They left together.’

‘How did they seem? Were they drunk.’

‘Pretty wasted. I was close to cutting off drinks to your friend.’

Sal looked disappointed when Gail turned to leave. ‘Won’t you stay for one drink,’ she said hopefully but without any of her earlier swagger.

‘Important police business. Gotta go,’ Gail said hurriedly and plunged in the direction of Holly and Chloe.

‘You handled that well, Peck,’ Holly teased once they were outside, ‘smooth, really smooth.’

‘You want me to go back in and take up Sal’s offer?’ Gail deadpanned.

‘No, not when you’ve got important police business to attend to,’ Holly smirked, and Gail swatted her playfully in the shoulder and pretended to pout.

‘So what’s going on?’ Dov said as they reached the car. He was leaning against the side of the vehicle and shifting from foot to foot, and looked awkward and out of place. Gail couldn’t figure out if his discomfort was caused by the neighborhood or the fact they were parked outside a lesbian bar, or maybe it was just Dov.

‘A bender, just like you said,’ Gail winced, ‘worse, she’s out with Jen Luck.’

‘So let’s find her,’ Dov said, ‘we can get Jen’s number and call her.’

‘Do you think Frankie’s going to thank us if we do that,’ Gail said.

‘Well no, but we can’t leave her with Jen. What if Frankie gets so drunk she and Jen you know,’ Dov said, ‘just like that time she slept with that needy barkeep from the Penny after she split with you.’

‘The redhead. She slept with her,’ Gail said, thinking that explained a lot. Frankie had steered clear of the Penny for weeks after that and Gail had thought it was to avoid her. But now it all made sense. Gail remembered the barkeep kept asking after Frankie and she’d suspected a crush, but turned out it was more than that.

Dov and Chloe nodded.

‘Okay, get her number,’ Gail sighed. Was it their job to save Frankie from herself? For some reason, Gail felt like she owed it to Frankie to at least try. She of all people understood what Frankie was like, recognized those same self-destructive impulses, and knew from her own experience how to blow up a relationship by sleeping with the first available random. 

Although where Gail had done it the one time, and cheating on Nick was a lashing out against the hurt and betrayal and bewilderment, for Frankie sleeping with someone else, as a way of breaking up, was pretty much de rigueur. Nothing like casual sex to avoid confronting feelings. If anyone got too close, Frankie didn’t stick around. Except with Alannah it had seemed different. 

Dov got the number from Dispatch without too much trouble. He didn’t even have to make up a story. Just said Frankie was with Jen Luck and had left her phone behind and he needed to let her know. 

He held out his phone for Gail to make the call.

‘Nuh-uh,’ she shook her head, ‘Jen hates my guts. I’m not calling her.’

‘Geez,’ Dov huffed, and then held out the phone to Chloe.

‘Oh no,’ Chloe’s eyes went wide, ‘she hates we even more because of Wes.’

‘And don’t look at me,’ Holly said, ‘I’m tainted by my association with Gail, besides I told Jen off for trash talking Gail.’

‘Really,’ Chloe exclaimed. Both she and Dov looked as if they’d like to hear more about this, but then Dov decided he should be responsible and address the matter at hand. Squaring his shoulders, he sighed again and said ‘Okay, I’ll do it. But you know Jen hates me just as much because I’m with Chloe.’

‘At least she doesn’t call you the chicken police,’ Gail said.

‘Oh just give me the phone,’ Holly said, taking it from Dov’s hand and pressing the call and then the speaker button, ‘and if Jen tries to hit on me again the three of you are paying for my drinks at the Penny for the next month.’

‘Luck hit on the Doc,’ Dov said in a stage whisper just as the call connected and they all heard a blast of music and then Jen’s shouted greeting. Clearly she was in a club and the level of noise and Jen’s tipsiness meant it took her a while to understand who was calling her and why, although she was a little perplexed when Holly said she urgently needed to speak to Frankie about a case. Eventually, she confirmed Frankie was with her and gave the address of the club, which turned out to be only a few blocks away.

‘Maybe I can persuade you to stay and have a drink with me, Doctor Stewart,’ Jen said, just before Holly disconnected, in what she no doubt thought her best seductive drawl, ‘we’ve never had a chance to really get to know each other and I feel like there’s something there.’

‘Yeah, like her girlfriend.’ Gail, who was standing next to Holly, leaned over to speak into the phone. As she straightened up, she rolled her eyes.

‘Peck’s with you,’ Jen spluttered.

‘We’ll see you in about five,’ Holly said, ignoring Jen’s question and ending the call.

‘The nerve of that woman,’ Dov said to Holly, ‘that’s harassment. She knows about you and Gail. Somebody should talk to her. Tell her to back off.’

‘Gee are you volunteering Dov,’ Gail gave a saccharine smile, her soft tone belying the bite behind her words, ‘cause you sound a whole lot more upset about Luck than I am.’

But,’ Dov started.

‘Gail knows I have zero interest in Jen Luck,’ Holly explained, tilting her head to one side to smile at Gail, ‘and that is victory enough.’

‘No, you being my girlfriend is victory enough and it galls Luck every time she sees us together.’

‘Thing I don’t get,’ Holly turned now so she could face Gail and link her arms around her waist, ‘is why Officer Luck thinks she stands a chance when I have such an amazing, not to mention extremely hot girlfriend.’ 

Holly leaned in now and kissed Gail on the lips and Gail found herself returning the kiss. Clearly, the two women had forgotten they were being observed, and things may have turned more heated had Dov not coughed embarrassedly. 

Gail swiftly stepped back from Holly and put her hands stiffly by her sides. In an instant, she had rearranged her face so it no longer looked goofily love struck but was impassive, as if this would convince Dov and Chloe they hadn’t caught her being a total mush with Holly. Except Gail’s expression was so self-consciously blank and so forced, instead of making it seem like she had nothing to hide, it actually drew attention to her attempt at subterfuge, so it was somewhat farcical.

‘You two are so sweet,’ Chloe gushed, her words bursting out as if she couldn’t hold them back any longer.

Gail looked at her dubiously. ‘Yeah, well I’m not yet convinced you’re not completely delusional, Princess.’ 

Holly laughed and kissed Gail’s cheek. Ignoring Chloe’s sappy look, Gail pretended to huff but couldn’t suppress a half smile. ‘Let’s go save Frankie from Luck’s evil clutches,’ she said.

‘Oh, and you three,’ Holly used her index finger to indicate Gail, Chloe and Dov, ‘are picking up my tab at the Penny for the next month.’

‘I never agreed to that,’ Gail grumbled, ‘it wasn’t even a fair bet. Luck always hits on you.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

When then pulled up outside the club, Dov again opted to stay in the car. In any case, Gail had double-parked, so someone had to stay behind.

‘Scared of the big ‘ole lesbians,’ Gail teased.

‘No,’ Dov said, ‘but I wouldn’t exactly be inconspicuous in there.’ Which Gail had to concede was true, even if she did bite back a smartass retort.

The club was noisy and crowded, even for a weeknight, and it took them awhile to locate Jen Luck.

‘I didn’t realize you were bringing a posse,’ Jen said to Holly, regarding Gail and Chloe with a sour look. She was in a small booth towards the back of the club, sandwiched between two women who looked curiously at Holly and the two detectives.

‘Where’s Frankie?’ Gail said without preamble.

‘Bathroom probably,’ Jen shrugged, ‘she was looking a bit green but maybe that’s because she knew the chicken police were after her.’

Gail rolled her eyes, and Holly made a great show of taking her hand. ‘Come on honey,’ she said, except she had to practically shout it because the music was so loud.

‘I really don’t understand why you have to be so unpleasant, Luck’ Chloe said and took off after Holly and Gail before Jen had a chance to reply.

They found Frankie with her arms literally wrapped around a toilet bowl, which Gail found disgusting because eww toilets in public places and this one looked like it wasn’t cleaned all that regularly. Still, Gail helped Frankie to her feet, trying not to gag at the smell of vomit that assailed her. It was only a whiff really, but that was enough to turn Gail’s stomach. 

Frankie took a few unsteady steps and then stopped and swayed. Gail and Chloe rushed to support her but she held out a warning finger. ‘I’m okay,’ she slurred, ‘just give me a minute.’ Taking a deep breath she went to the basin and splashed cold water on her face. 

If Frankie was surprised to see the three women, she didn’t show it. Nor did she put up any objections when they bundled her out of the club and into the car. Holly surreptitiously sent off a text to Alannah saying they’d located Frankie.

‘I don’t feel too good,’ Frankie said a few minutes into the journey. She opened the passenger window and stuck her head out, and almost instantly the car was filled with the biting night air.

‘If she pukes in this car, I’m never riding in it ever again,’ Gail whined, glancing over at Holly, who was in the front passenger seat. It was Holly’s car but Gail was driving. Holly preferred it that way, aware she could be an absent-minded driver. In fact, she had a number of speeding tickets to prove it. She put a reassuring hand on Gail’s knee but Gail just scowled.

‘I’m serious,’ Gail said.

‘Gail,’ Chloe and Dov chorused in unison from the back seat, a note of reproach in the voices. Glancing in the rear view mirror Gail saw that Chloe was rubbing soothing circles on Frankie’s back. Except, Gail decided, they probably weren’t soothing. If she was in Frankie’s shoes, she reckoned all that touchy-feeliness would definitely make her puke.

In the event, Frankie didn’t throw up again. Back at Gail’s place, she compliantly followed their instructions to shower, drink water and then go to bed in the spare room. Holly gave her a t-shirt and sweat pants to wear and Gail threw her clothes into the wash, wrinkling her face as she did so.

‘They’re not that bad,’ Holly teased, ‘I don’t think Frankie got a speck of vomit on her.’ But Gail said she wasn’t taking any chances.

In bed, Holly wrapped her arms around Gail, drawing her close. This was one of her favorite parts of the day, just before sleep overtook them when all the demands and ordeals of the world beyond had been pushed aside, and it was just the two of them, here, still and quiet. It was then Holly could press her face into Gail’s neck and breathe in the delicious scent of her. 

She was nearly asleep when Gail spoke. ‘Just so you know, I’d rather chase a perp ten blocks than deal with vomit.’

‘I guess that means I’ll be cleaning up after our kids.’

‘Oh most definitely,’ Gail yawned and turned to snuggle into Holly, ‘anyway you’re used to all that putrid smelly stuff at work.’

Holly smiled. ‘Says the woman who has not once fainted or puked during an autopsy or even run out of the room.’

‘Hmmph, sleeping now,’ Gail replied.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

In the morning Frankie groaned when they tried to wake her and buried her head under the pillow. Gail placed an espresso on the bedside table.

‘Frankie,’ she said sternly, ‘get up. We have fresh leads and we need you on this investigation. Otherwise, my mother will probably try and put Swarek in charge again.’

At that, Frankie pulled the pillow half off her head so one side of her face was exposed.

‘Did the Superintendent threaten that,’ she snarled, clearly unimpressed Elaine was yet again interfering.

‘No but she wasn’t happy you weren’t at the station last night and I was taking the lead.’

Frankie completely removed the pillow and sat up, wincing and cursing as she did so.

‘Why is it so goddam bright in here. And what d’you mean you took the lead.’

‘It’s not bright,’ Gail said, ‘the blinds are shut. Drink this coffee. Shower. Get dressed. Your clothes are washed. I’ll fill you in one the way to the station.’

Frankie groaned. ‘When did you get so bossy, Peck. I’m your superior officer. You should show me more respect,’ she grumbled half-heartedly.

‘Yeah, yeah, well I just might if I didn’t have to scrape you off the filthy bathroom floor of some sleazy club,’ Gail said, walking towards the bedroom door. She stopped as she reached it, turning back to face Frankie and adding, ‘and if you stopped being a big whiney baby and accepted how you feel about Alannah.’

Holly, who was tasked with getting painkillers and water for Frankie, arrived outside the bedroom just in time to overhear Gail and Frankie’s final exchange.

‘You are either one very brave woman or insane, Gail Peck,’ she smirked as Gail came out into the corridor.

‘And that’s why you love me,’ Gail grinned and kissed Holly on the cheek, ‘good luck with grumpy.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

At the station, Dov had got a start on trawling through Brierly’s chat room history to see if he could trace Dominic Swartz. Chloe had already contacted the SPCA.

‘I’ve arranged for us to go and meet with one of their officers now. She said if we’re satisfied the video was shot at EquanimityPlus then they can do a spot inspection.’

‘Good,’ Gail started to say.

‘Why are you so chirpy,’ Frankie interrupted, ‘ and loud. It’s barely morning. I’m getting coffee.’

‘Geez, I thought Frankie could handle alcohol,’ Chloe said to Gail as they watched Frankie retreat to the break room.

‘Out of practice. I don’t think she’s been drinking as much since she and Alannah got together,’ Gail said.

‘This is not like Frankie, to drop the ball during an investigation. She needs to make things right with Alannah.’

‘Yep, ain’t that the truth but at least she’s here at work. Let her get a coffee. I bet she’ll refocus. In the meantime why don’t you and I go speak to the SPCA officer? Gimlet’s not due back from his trip to Vancouver until late this afternoon, so if we can make the inspection happen this morning all the better.’

‘Do you think he’d try and stop it?’ Chloe asked.

‘Possibly, although legally he can’t if the SPCA think there is reasonable cause to inspect. But have you noticed whenever we’re at EquanimityPlus we’re always escorted everywhere, never left by ourselves. Even when Frankie went to the bathroom, she was accompanied by Helen Marino’s assistant.’

‘Yeah,’ Chloe nodded, ‘they’re definitely hiding something.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘Here in Ontario we’ve got fairly tough laws about animal experimentation,’ the SPCA officer said. Her name was Maya and she’d already taken a look through the video. ‘As well the Canadian Council on Animal Care sets guidelines for the humane and responsible use of experimental animals.’ 

‘And let me take a wild guess. The way those animals in the video were treated doesn’t meet those guidelines,’ Gail said. 

‘No way,’ Maya agreed, ‘if we can find evidence to corroborate the video, it would be enough to shut down the facility.’

Maya seemed all right, Gail decided. The SPCA officer was direct and clearly quite willing to take immediate action. Other officers might have been more cautious, but Maya gave the impression she’d rather take a gamble than risk leaving animals in untenable conditions.

‘Have you had any reports of missing pet dogs?’ Chloe asked.

‘Yeah, there was a rash about a month back, and they seem to happen at fairly regular intervals. And not just here in Toronto but across Ontario. We suspect they’re being taken for experimentation but we’ve never been able to catch anyone.’

‘So can you do an inspection?’ Chloe asked.

‘You’re certain it was filmed at EquanimityPlus?’

‘Nearly 100 percent,’ Gail said, knowing she was fudging it a bit, but what reason would anyone have for sending the video other than to expose abuses at EquanimityPlus. ‘Can you inspect this morning?’

‘I’m the only officer free right now – all my colleagues are tied up with other cases - but if you can give me back-up, I can do the inspection. As you know, the police also have the power to investigate cases of animal abuse.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail nodded, ‘there is one thing we need to mention. We came across this in the course of an investigation into the death of an employee at EquanimityPlus, who was involved in animal experimentation. There’s a good chance this is connected with that murder and, to date, EquanimityPlus have been very closed about what’s going on in the facility.’

‘So not exactly cooperative?’ Maya asked.

‘Let’s just say a very thin veneer of co-operation.’

‘I get you,’ Maya said, ‘don’t worry we’re used to having to barge out way into places we’re not wanted. I’ll get some things sorted here and meet you at EquanimityPlus in an hour.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

When Gail and Chloe arrived back at the station, Frankie was nowhere to be seen.

‘Fuelling up on coffee,’ Dov said, jerking his head in the direction of the break room.

‘Is she any better?’ Chloe asked.

‘A little, but Superintendent Peck just followed her into the break room, so who would know.’

‘Shit Dov, why didn’t you say so immediately,’ Gail scowled, heading off to find her mother and Frankie.

When Gail got to the door of the break room, Frankie had her back pressed up against the counter of the kitchenette, one hand gripping the edge and the other holding a cup of coffee. If possible, her face was grayer than it had been this morning and her eyes were red-rimmed. Even though Gail had washed Frankie’s clothes, she had an unkempt air about her, as if she had actually slept in what she was wearing. She looked like someone who’d been on a bender, something Gail knew would not go unnoticed by her mother. 

‘You made a quick recovery from the stomach flu,’ Elaine was saying, ‘it seems to have knocked everyone else out for days.’

‘It might have just been a 24-hour bug,’ Frankie shrugged.

‘Is that so,’ Elaine said, not sounding in the least convinced, ‘if you’re not fit for duty I can assign someone else to head up the investigation.’

‘That won’t be necessary,’ Frankie replied tersely, and Gail noticed her grip tighten on the coffee cup.

‘Well, I’ve come to inform you that Detective Peck has been reassigned. She’ll be working with me for the present.’

‘That’s bullshit mother and you know it,’ Gail said. Somehow she contained the fury that suffused her, and instead her voice was quiet and determined.

Up until this point, neither Frankie nor Elaine had registered Gail observing them from the doorway. Now Elaine turned slowly to regard Gail, her expression unyielding. ‘Since when have you been in charge of staffing or operational matters, Abigail?’

‘I thought you were happy I finally made detective, but it seems like you want to pull me off every second investigation. Dr Hart dropped the complaint. There’s nothing for you to be concerned about anymore.’

‘Actually, there is. The powers that be have decided, given who you are, an internal investigation is warranted and it might be best, for now, if you have a little distance from the case.’

‘Yay for the Peck legacy,’ Gal said bitterly.

‘That is bullshit,’ Frankie pushed off from the counter and took two steps so she was standing directly in front of Elaine. ‘Nothing will make Gail look more guilty than if you sequester her in the big building. I don’t care whose operational feathers I ruffle, she’s staying on the team. I trust you’ll inform the powers that be. Now Superintendent if you’ll excuse us, we have work to do.’

Gail shot Frankie a grateful look and nodded to Elaine. ‘Mother,’ she said curtly and followed Frankie out of the room. 

Gail was a little surprised Elaine had given in so easily. Maybe her mother wasn’t actually too happy with the directive to take her off the case. Since Steve and the corruption scandal, all the Pecks on the force were subjected to excessive scrutiny and this must gall the Superintendent just as much as it did Gail. However, until now, it hadn’t occurred to Gail if she was being watched so carefully, Elaine must be too. Neither of them could afford to put a step out of line, but where her mother was a master at negotiating the political machinations of the force, Gail just wanted to be left alone to get on with her job. Elaine probably feared it left her daughter open to being unfairly judged or accused by those who wouldn’t be happy until every Peck had been hounded off the force. 

A little grudgingly, Gail had to admit that her mother was probably only trying to protect her. Still, she didn’t envy Elaine having to tell her superiors that Frankie had refused to release her from the investigation, although she trusted the Superintendent would think up some spin to put on it.

‘Fuck,’ Frankie said once they were out of Elaine’s earshot, ‘why does your mother choose to interrogate me on the day I feel like a herd of wildebeests are stampeding in my head.’

‘Sorry, I’d keep her on a leash if I could,’ Gail said drily, ‘bad hangover?’

Frankie looked at her dolefully and choose not to answer. ‘So have you and Chloe organized the EquanimityPlus raid?’

‘It’s an inspection, Frankie. I don’t think the SPCA would appreciate it being called a raid.’

‘Whatever,’ Frankie sighed, ‘I need some more painkillers. Oh, by the way, Holly called. No fingerprints on the USB or the envelope other than the kid’s and Gerald’s.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Gail and Chloe had lined up some uniforms to accompany them to EquanimityPlus. Andy, Chris, Robinson and a new guy called Taylor. It was a show of force that clearly intimidated Helen Marino and Gimlet’s assistant, Marjorie Flint. The two women met them in the foyer.

‘We would request you wait for Mr Gimlet’s return this afternoon before you proceed with the inspection,’ Helen Marino said tersely.

‘We can’t do that,’ Frankie said firmly, ‘we’ve received information we need to act on now. If you’ve got nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about.’

‘I wish you guys could accompany me on every inspection,’ Maya said to Gail as they followed Helen Marino to the labs, ‘I could use some extra muscle.’

The labs were unremarkable, brightly lit by overhead fluorescent strips and extraordinarily sterile. In fact, they were so clean Gail thought you could practically eat off the floor. Well, that’s if you weren’t as fastidious as she was about germs. Workers in white coats were monitoring rats, who for the most part seemed quite dopey. It was nothing like the video. 

‘So we’ve seen all the labs,’ Frankie asked and Helen Marino nodded. Frankie sounded irritable. Gail knew if she and Chloe had got this wrong, Frankie wouldn’t be impressed. Especially in her current state. Was there a chance Dominic or whoever it was who sent the video was messing with them? Maybe it wasn’t even filmed here. 

It was a two-story building, with the labs on the ground floor and various offices, including Gimlet’s rather palatial one, on the floor above. Gail thought back to the video. The lab in the footage had seemed quite dark and cramped. Low ceilings and no windows, she recalled, suddenly knowing exactly where they’d find the lab.

‘No labs upstairs,’ Frankie tried again, a note of resignation overlaying her annoyance. 

If they’d got this wrong, EquanimityPlus would have every right to lodge a complaint against them. A huge, career damaging complaint. In fact, it would probably make it almost impossible for them to continue the investigation, Gail decided. 

‘No. The labs are all the first floor,’ Helen Marino said. It was tiny but Gail saw it. The slight shift of Marino’s eyes to the left, her inability to meet Frankie’s gaze. She was lying. Gail knew it.

‘What about the basement?’ Gail asked, ‘we’d like to see that.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘It was,’ Gail bit her lip, ‘I can’t even find the words. It was worse than seeing it on the video. They’re totally defenseless creatures. Maya, the SPCA officer agreed they had been pets. Most of them had to be euthanized.’

‘Oh honey,’ Holly rubbed Gail’s back soothingly, her head tilted to one side and a sympathetic expression on her face. 

Gail felt herself relax a little. Until Holly, she’d never been comfortable about letting anyone console her, never let anyone in. Truth was no one ever thought she needed to be comforted. Brittle and tough, that’s how most people saw her. Someone who could brush off the uglier, the more brutal facets of life she was exposed to in this job, and yes, even the trauma. She was the Ice Queen after all. Nothing was supposed to penetrate her hard shell. It was probably why all her friends did so little after Perick. They just assumed she’d moved on. Not that Gail had done anything to correct that misapprehension.

Growing up, she was taught to see vulnerability as a weakness. ‘You won't move up in the force if they think you’re soft,’ Bill Peck had told Gail when she was barely more than a child. Somehow, with Holly it was all right to let her guard down, to admit she wasn’t invincible, that things hurt and dragged her down and sometimes made her feel messed up in the head. Opening up to Holly always helped make things seem a little better, a little less despairing, and that had a lot to do with the fact Holly was clear it was okay to admit to vulnerabilities. In fact, it made you a stronger person, she told Gail.

They were seated in the locker room. It was early evening. The business at EquanimityPlus had taken most of the day to sort out. Helen Marino and Marjorie Flint had admitted knowing about the basement but said they never went down there. Helen said it was Gimlet’s special project and he oversaw the experimentation.

‘So you weren’t ever curious to take a look?’ Frankie had asked.

‘It wasn’t part of my prevue,’ Helen replied stiffly, making Gail think she probably knew exactly what was going on in the basement lab but turned a blind eye. 

The lab technicians from the first floor were equally non-committal. Yes, they knew about the lab but it was off limits and they didn’t ask why, didn’t even mix with the crew who worked down there. Along with Maya, the three detectives had spent the rest of the afternoon interviewing the eight lab technicians who worked in the basement. Each was tight-lipped about what their work – it was like Gimlet had worded them up and they threw around a lot of phrases like ‘commercial-in-confidence’ and ‘data sensitivity.’

‘You know it won’t just be Gimlet and EquanimityPlus facing charges of animal cruelty. You’ll be charged as an individual as well,’ Frankie told each one but it didn’t make them anymore forthcoming.

Now Frankie and Chloe had gone to meet Gimlet at the airport, leaving Gail to write up the interviews from the day. 

‘For once I actually volunteered to do paperwork,’ Gail told Holly, ‘if I saw Gimlet I‘d probably be tempted to shoot him.’

‘Won’t Frankie want you in on the interview?’ Holly asked.

‘Yeah. That’s why I’m in here.’

‘Cooling your heels,’ Holly said in understanding.

‘Nerd,’ Gail gave a small smile, ‘but yeah. I just need to clear my head, then maybe I won’t shoot him.’

‘Yeah, I’m not a fan of that idea. I’d rather not have to spend the rest of my life visiting you in prison.’

Gail gave a harsh laugh.

‘So is this illegal experimentation tied up with Brierly’s murder?’ Holly asked.

‘Hopefully, we’ll know more when we speak to Gimlet, but I have a strong feeling it is. Dov’s still trawling through Brierly’s computer but he thinks he’s identified the person we know as Dominic Swartz. He and Brierly met in a chat room and Brierly started opening up about how uncomfortable he was experimenting on animals. With any luck, Dov can trace Swartz’s IP address.’ 

‘So it’s starting to come together,’ Holly said, taking Gail’s hand and running her thumb across it gently. Gail nodded. She shifted to face Holly, then reached out, putting her arms around her waist and burying her face in the crook of Holly’s neck. Holly pulled Gail close, hugging her tightly. They stayed there for a moment, not saying anything until they heard someone clearing their throat.

Anna Robinson stood in the door, looking apologetic. ‘Um, sorry to disturb you but Detective Peck there’s a Dr Hart out front who wants to speak to you.’

‘To me?’ Gail lifted her head up, ‘it’s probably better if she speaks to Dov.’

‘No she specifically asked for you. And said she needed to speak to you alone.’

‘Is that wise?’ Holly said as Gail stood.

‘Probably not,’ Gail admitted, ‘but what if she knows something vital to the case.’

‘What if she’s stirring up trouble?’ Holly said, looking worried.

‘Is Dr Hart the woman who made a complaint against you?’ Anna Robinson asked.

‘You heard about that,’ Gail twisted her mouth, ‘I guess nothing stays secret around here.’

‘Um, if we put her in an interview room, I could observe if you like. That way if she makes trouble, I can be a witness. If that helps,’ Anna ended tentatively.

Gail considered for a moment. ‘Yeah. Okay. Good plan.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Robinson had Francine seated in the interview room before Gail entered. Gail preferred it that way. It gave her a little bit of power, to stand and regard Francine and then slowly, deliberately pull out a chair and sit down to face her. 

It was all about control, about making it clear who was in charge of this interview. Most times it worked for Gail and today was no exception. Francine seemed to shrink back into her chair as Gail sat. There was something about her manner that was different. Less cocky, less defiant perhaps, Gail thought.

‘You didn’t bring your lawyer today?’ Gail asked.

‘He’d probably advise against me speaking to you,’ Francine gave a small, hollow laugh.

‘And why do you want to speak to me?’

‘Thing is I lied. Well no. I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you everything. My cousin John told me about Dominic. That’s not his real name. It’s an alias he uses.’

‘So what’s his real name?’

‘I don’t know. He’s refused to use it ever since he was estranged from his father.’

‘And his father?’ Gail quirked an eyebrow. She didn’t really have to ask. She felt like she already knew the answer, was almost forming the words when Francine spoke again.

‘Frank Gimlet, CEO of EquanimityPlus.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………


	40. Forty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie blue or any of the characters….
> 
> Thanks as always for the comments, kudos and subscriptions, and for reading of course. It does mean so much to hear from you. Chapter 40 - who'd have thought this fic would get this far when I wrote that very short first chapter over a year ago.
> 
> Sorry it has taken so long to update. Things have been kind of hard lately and the words just weren’t flowing. Hopefully I’ve pulled something reasonable together for this update. I had planned more for this chapter, but in the end decided it was better to update sooner.
> 
> Apologies for mistakes – I do my best to proof, but there are always some….
> 
> Hope you enjoy :)

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Gimlet does have a son. Dr Hart was right,’ Dov said, pointing to his computer. Gail pulled her chair in closer to take a look.

‘Damien Gimlet. Twenty-two. Last known address 15 Riverdale Street, the Bridle Path,‘ Gail reeled off.

‘Millionaire’s row,’ Dov gave a low whistle, ‘how can a twenty-two-year-old kid afford to live there?’ 

‘Gimlet’s ex-wife lives in Bridle Park. What’s the bet it’s the same address.’

‘So you think it’s the family home?’ Dov entered a new search into the computer.

‘Yep. Gimlet said his wife kept it in the divorce.’

‘Patricia Gimlet is listed as the owner,’ Dov pointed to the computer again.

‘We should head over there, although I very much doubt we’ll find Damien aka Dominic Swartz’, Gail said as she stood and grabbed the leather jacket from the back of her chair, ‘but at least we can talk to Patricia. Maybe she can give us some dirt on Gimlet.’

‘So what is Damien doing mixed up in this?’ Dov asked as he followed Gail out of the detective pen. ‘Even if he’s not involved in Brierly’s murder, at the very least he’s undermining his father’s company. ’

‘Conscience,’ Gail suggested, ‘maybe he saw what was going on in the labs. Knew animals were suffering.’

‘Yeah, so why not report it directly to the SPCA? Why go to these lengths?’ Dov mused. 

Gail shrugged. ‘People are weird. They do weird things. I mean, look at you Dov.’

‘What if Gimlet didn’t like the way his mother was treated in the divorce,’ Dov said, choosing to ignore Gail’s jibe, ‘maybe it’s revenge.’

‘It’s possible. What’s say we go talk to the ex-Mrs Gimlet? If we get really lucky we’ll find junior home as well,’ Gail said. She looked at her watch. ‘I’ll let Frankie know. She and Chloe should be collecting Gimlet from the airport right about now.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………

When Gail had gone to speak to Francine, Holly decided to head home. Much as she was curious to find out what Francine had to say, and much as a part of her wanted to hang around in case Francine was trying to dupe Gail or land her in more trouble, Holly knew she should leave Gail to get on with her job. Besides, Gail had said she probably had a long night ahead of her and told Holly not to wait. 

As she made her way out of the station, Holly was flagged down by Traci. The detective wanted her opinion about a case - a drug dealer whose death appeared to be a suicide but one of Holly’s colleagues felt otherwise. Reviewing the autopsy notes, Holly was inclined to agree.

‘Definitely staged,’ Holly said.

Traci sighed despondently.

‘A can worms huh?’ Holly smiled sympathetically.

‘Yeah, this guy had so many enemies I don’t where to begin. Any number of them wanted him dead, but thanks, Holly. I value your opinion. You and Gail should come over for dinner sometime soon. Leo’s been asking to see Gail.’

‘Don’t tell Gail that –she’ll be over there tonight,’ Holly said and Traci chuckled.

A good forty-five minutes had passed by the time Holly made it to the lot behind the station where she’d parked her car. Apart from cars, the lot appeared empty. Since dating Gail, it had become something of a habit for Holly to scan her surroundings, particularly when walking to her car at night. ‘You can’t be too careful,’ Gail had said. Holly had chalked up her caution to being a police officer but agreed it was sensible advice. 

It was only as she pulled the car keys out of her coat pocket Holly sensed someone behind her. It was just an intuition really, nothing tangible about it. Since stepping out on the lot, zero had happened to put her on guard, no footfalls or muted voices, not even a flash of movement, yet the hairs on the back of Holly’s neck stood up. 

As a scientist, Holly normally didn’t give much credence to the idea of premonitions, but this time she had a bad, bad feeling. Which was ridiculous, Holly thought, she was in a well-lit police lot. She certainly hadn’t noticed anyone skulking about, and yet there was this feeling, almost like something or someone was about to press in against her. Gripping her keys and key fob to use as a weapon, Holly spun around. The woman was standing inches from her, so close Holly was surprised she hadn’t felt her breath upon her her neck. 

‘Fuck,’ Francine screamed and jumped back as Holly assumed an aggressive pose, ready to strike, ‘what are you doing Holly.’

Holly lowered her arm but still kept her keys bunched in her hand. Based on the expression on her face, Holly guessed Francine’s heart was beating as wildly as her own.

‘What are you doing here,’ Holly said, fear and adrenaline making her sound more hostile than she intended.

‘Don’t be like that, Holly,’ Francine wheedled, ‘I saw you leave the station and I thought we should talk. You know, clear the air.’

‘About Gail and your complaint?’ Holly asked, confused. For an instant, she thought Francine might want to apologize for causing Gail such trouble, but she dismissed the thought as quickly as it occurred to her. Saying sorry wasn’t something Holly imagined Francine would ever do. In any case, Francine probably thought the matter had been dropped once she withdrew her complaint. The surgeon had no way of knowing it had sparked an internal review into Gail’s conduct.

‘What? No!’ Now it was Francine’s turn to look confused, ‘I want to talk about us.’

‘There’s nothing to discuss,’ Holly said coolly, ‘I think I made that clear. Gail’s my girlfriend – I’m not interested in anything with you.’

‘Oh Holly,’ Francine sighed as if Holly were misguided or perhaps a recalcitrant child who couldn’t see she was acting against her own best interest. ‘Holly, Holly.’ Francine took a step forward and placed a hand on Holly’s arm. Holly reflexively flinched and tried to pull her arm away, but suddenly Francine had her wrist in a crushing grip. She pulled Holly to her so their faces were millimeters apart and for an awful moment, Holly thought Francine was going to kiss her.

‘You know that cop’s no good for you.’ Francine’s face was contorted and flecks of spittle had gathered at the corner of her mouth. At this close range, Holly could feel Francine’s breath, hot and sour, on her face. She is quite mad, Holly thought. 

‘You need someone like me to look after you,’ Francine continued but her voice softened, back to the cajoling tone, ‘someone who appreciates you, someone who is your equal, not that dim-witted cop.’

Holly tried to pull away but Francine tightened her hold.

‘Francine,’ Holly said levelly, ‘you need to let go of my wrist.’

‘No, not until you admit we belong together.’

‘Francine, you are hurting me. Let go of my wrist,’ Holly said more firmly.

But Francine didn’t release her hold, not willingly anyway. Without warning Holly shifted forward towards Francine, the surprise momentarily knocking the surgeon off balance. Holly took the opportunity to stomp down hard on Francine’s foot, grateful for those self-defense classes back in college.

‘Argh,’ Francine cried out, letting go of Holly’s wrist with such force it propelled Holly back into her car.

Holly steadied herself, thinking the best course of action might be to make a break for the station. However, before Holly had a chance to move, Francine was seized in a classic police hold, arms pinned behind her back. At first Holly couldn’t tell who it was who had come to her aid. She half hoped it was Gail, half hoped it wasn’t, because if it was Gail then Francine Hart’s life wouldn’t be worth living. It was only as Holly straightened up, she saw it was Fiona Vincent. 

‘What the fuck, let me go,’ Francine was screaming, ‘you’re hurting me.’

‘Yeah,’ Fiona said like she could care less, ‘well, I’m about to arrest you for assault, Dr Hart.’

Francine twisted her head around to get a look at who was restraining her. ‘You,’ she said when she saw it was Fiona Vincent, her voice full of venom and outrage, ‘aren’t you supposed to be on my side. I’m in the right, you know that.’

For a moment Holly was confused. Why would Fiona be on Francine’s side? It was such a strange assertion, well insistence really. Did Francine really believe she was in the right, although it was unclear if she was referring to her behavior of a moment ago or Fiona’s review into Gail’s conduct? Or maybe Francine just believed she was always right; that her version of events was the valid one. She was arrogant enough, Holly thought. 

It occurred to Holly that each time she saw Francine the surgeon’s behavior became more erratic. For some inexplicable reason, despite all evidence to the contrary and despite Holly’s continual rebuffs, Francine believed she had a claim to Holly. It was crazy and irrational, and Holly wondered why it had taken her so long to recognize that Francine’s behavior was not that of someone who was mentally stable.

‘Dr Stewart,’ Fiona said sharply, bringing Holly out of her reverie. The police officer’s concerned expression suggested she’d repeated Holly’s name several times. ‘Are you alright?’

‘I’m okay. It’s okay,’ Holly said, rubbing her wrist gently to ease the throbbing, ‘I don’t want to press charges.’

‘Are you sure,’ Fiona said, a note of disbelief in her voice. ‘I saw everything that happened.’

‘Yes, I’m sure,’ Holly said.

‘So let me go,’ Francine said, jerking forward, which caused Fiona to tighten her grip. ‘Shit. You don’t have to treat me like a criminal. Tell her Holly. We’re okay here.’ Francine looked directly at Holly, her expression defiant, even challenging.

‘Francine,’ Holly said, determinedly, drawing herself up so she stood straight and tall to convey just how resolute she was. Francine was a good deal shorter and Holly decided to use the height difference to her advantage, peering down at the surgeon like she was of little significance. ‘I want nothing to do with you. Stay away from me and stay away from Gail. Otherwise, I will press charges.’

‘You heard her,’ Fiona said, letting Francine go but giving her a not too gentle push. ‘If you bother Dr Stewart or Detective Peck again, I won’t hesitate to arrest you for harassment. Which means you can say goodbye to your fancy medical career too. Do you understand?’ 

Francine stumbled forward and then, righting herself, turned to face Fiona. Her eyes were unfocussed and she appeared to be about to say something, but instead took off, sprinting through the lot and out onto the street. Holly let out a huge breath. She realized she was trembling, just a little and no doubt from shock. Fiona Vincent must have noticed too.

‘Let’s get you inside, Holly,’ she said, ‘You might need to ice that wrist.’

Holly nodded numbly and followed Fiona back into the station. She didn’t believe in premonitions, not at all, but quite suddenly she was struck by a sense of foreboding, like this wasn’t the last she’d seen of Francine.

‘Do you think I should have pressed charges?’ she asked Fiona.

‘Holly, that’s completely your decision. But in my experience, someone like that, she may keep coming back until you take action.’

‘It’s just her behavior is out of character. I’m not a psychiatrist but it’s like she’s experiencing some kind of psychosis. I don’t believe charging her will achieve anything.’

‘So you two were involved?’ Fiona asked. It was said casually but Holly was immediately wary, knowing Fiona was heading the internal review sparked by Francine’s complaint.

‘Hardly,’ Holly scoffed, ‘oh god are you asking as someone investigating Gail or as my best friend’s partner? Because I don’t feel comfortable having my private life dissected as part of your review.’

‘It will be anyway, I’m afraid. From what I can tell, Dr Hart made the complaint because of an irrational hatred of Gail. If I can make that link, it will help clear Gail.’

‘It was two years ago in San Francisco. Believe me, a very bad one-night stand. Francine wanted to take it further. I wasn’t interested. She went to work in Africa for a year and I didn’t give it or her another thought until she turned up in Toronto a few months ago.’

‘And made it clear she was still interested?’

‘Yep,’ Holly popped the ‘p’ just like Gail did. ‘And I made it abundantly clear to Francine I wasn’t interested in her and was very, very happy with Gail. Oh shit, Gail would want me to press charges wouldn’t she.’

‘I’d say so,’ Fiona agreed.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘Damien is my step-son,’ Patricia Gimlet sighed, ‘he hasn’t lived here for three years.’

The house was enormous. What real estate agents would describe as a residence - two stories with a sweeping circular drive and a six-car garage around the side. Patricia had ushered them into a room just off the front entrance. The room was painted in muted tones and had a large white floral Persian rug and a good-sized fireplace. An off-white sofa and two stiff-backed chairs upholstered in gold brocade were arranged around a heavy square marble table. Hanging over the mantelpiece were two swords, crossed like a saltire on a coat of arms, except these looked like Samurai swords, each had a curved single-edged blade and long grip. The swords themselves were incongruous in what was essentially a sitting room, but it was their size which made them impossible to ignore.

Even though Gail guessed it wasn’t the main living room, the effect was opulent, a display of wealth that was no doubt repeated throughout the rest of the house. She wondered if it was Patricia’s handiwork – Frank Gimlet had said his ex-wife was an interior decorator. Patricia had taken the same care and expense with her own appearance. Long ash blond hair was artfully curled just below the shoulders, and her make-up was understated but skillfully applied. She wore an apricot colored skirt and white silk camisole, which she’d paired with a white blazer and long, fine gold chain. Light beige high heels completed the outfit. 

Patricia hadn’t seemed in the least surprised when Gail explained they believed Damien could assist the inquiry into the murder of John Brierly. Her only discernible reaction was a very slight lift of an eyebrow, and a ‘you better come in detectives,’ before she hastily shut the front door. Wouldn’t do to have it known the cops were on your doorstep, Gail thought. Although the nearest neighbors were some distance away so there was little chance Patricia would be spied speaking to them. 

‘So when did you last see Damien?’ Gail asked.

‘A year ago. It was right before the divorce. He came to see Frank. He was quite het-up about something, wild-eyed but then he was always a boy who liked a cause. I heard raised voices and then Damien slammed out of the house.’

‘Did Mr Gimlet say what it was about?’ 

Patricia shrugged and reached for a cigarette box sitting on the marble table. It was brass with a filigree pattern on the lid and looked antique. She flipped the lid open, offering Dov and Gail a cigarette, which they both declined. ‘Mind if I do?’ Patricia asked but didn’t wait for an answer before lighting up and taking a deep drag and then exhaling. ‘Where were we?’

‘Did Mr Gimlet tell you what his disagreement with Damien was about?’ Gail prompted.

‘We were barely on speaking terms by then. But I was sitting in here so Damien passed me on his way out. Frank was right behind him, shouting.’

‘Do you remember what he shouted?’

‘Don’t be naïve. We’re not the only company who does it. Go public with this and you’ll destroy me.’

‘You sound very certain,’ Dov said, ‘that’s excellent recall.’

Patricia Gimlet regarded him haughtily. ‘My antenna went off when I heard the word company. I was about to start divorce proceedings – I had a vested interest in the health of EquanimityPlus. After Damien left, Frank saw me sitting here, and said, how did I raise such a naïve, stupid boy.’

‘Did you ask what he meant?’ Dov said.

‘No. Frank went back to his study. They were the first words he’d spoken to me for days. You have to understand, when Frank turns against you he is a deeply unpleasant man.’

‘So I take it you got a reasonable divorce settlement?’ Gail said.

‘Not that it is any of your business, but yes, I did well. A sizable stake in the company - thirty percent of the shares - and doesn’t that stick in Frank’s craw. Even though he set up the company entirely with his first wife’s money.’

‘Would you have any idea where Damien might be living?’ Gail asked, ‘could he have gone to his mother’s?’

‘Susan, the first Mrs Gimlet,’ Patricia said bitterly, ‘she died when Damien was four. Weak heart apparently, although being married to Frank would send anyone to an early grave.’

Not you apparently, Gail thought to herself. ‘So you brought up Damien?’

‘From the age of ten. Frank had employed a series of nannies before that. None of them lasted long because he usually screwed them. By the time I came along, Damien had had a fairly fractured childhood and didn’t trust adults easily.’

‘Abandonment issues’ Gail said.

‘By the bucket load. I don’t think he’s ever managed to maintain a long term relationship as an adult either.’

‘So would you say you and Damien are close?’ Dov asked.

‘Not at all. Damien tolerated me. I guess I gave him some consistency. After the first three years of the marriage, Frank was rarely here. I knew he had affairs,’ Patricia shrugged, ‘and he worked long hours so the child rearing, including looking after Damien, was left to me. After I found Frank fucking the first nanny I hired, I made sure I only employed older women who were not what you’d describe as eye candy if you know what I mean, but it didn’t stop Frank’s eye wandering elsewhere.’

Yeah, the child rearing must have been a hardship, Gail thought to herself, with all those nannies on hand. Still, she didn’t envy Patricia’s life married to Frank Gimlet. Her use of the obscenity had been deliberate, a bitter denunciation of her ex-husband and his infidelities.

‘So would you have any idea who Damien’s close friends are?’ Dov asked.

Patricia scoffed. ‘I wouldn’t have been able to tell you who he hung out with at school, let alone who his adult friends are. Damien was secretive, kept to himself. Usually polite and charming, but some part of me always suspected it was an act.’

‘How so?’ Gail asked.

‘Like he’d worked out how to behave around people to get his way rather than it being something that came naturally to him. There was something almost detached about him which he hid well.’

‘Did he ever mention John Brierly?’

Patricia took a long drag on her cigarette and let out the breath slowly, regarding Gail through the swirl of smoke. ‘No, but I think I met him about two years ago when I was waiting for Frank in his office. Dark hair, thin mustache. Mousey kind of guy.’

Gail and Dov nodded.

‘He was looking for my husband and seemed agitated when he found me instead of Frank. I offered to pass on a message but he said no.’

‘Did you mention this to Mr Gimlet,’ Gail asked.

‘Yes. Frank said Brierly was pushing for a promotion. Apparently, he’d spoken to Frank about it several times. Frank was clearly irritated. Said he didn’t have much time for Brierly.’

‘Did you two ever discuss Brierly again?’

‘Not that I can recall,’ Patricia shrugged, reaching for an ashtray to stub out her cigarette.

‘Did Damien or Frank ever mention anything to you about the animal testing at EquanimityPlus?’ Dov said

‘No, I’m not involved in the day to day running of the company.’

‘So you didn’t take a look around the place when you redecorated Mr Gimlet’s office?’ Gail asked.

‘No, hard as it is to believe, seeing a bunch of lab rats doesn’t excite me,’ Patricia said acerbically, making clear she thought the question stupid.

‘Do you still work as an interior decorator?’

‘No need,’ Patricia scoffed, opening out her hands to indicate she was surrounded by wealth, ‘I stopped working when I married Frank. I only decorated his office as a favor.’

‘Did you decorate this house?’ Dov asked.

‘Yes. I wanted to put my own stamp on it. Expunge the ghost of Susan Gimlet.’

‘So, those two swords hanging over the mantelpiece – were they purchased as part of the redecoration?’ Gail asked.

Patricia raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you a collector Detective? They are Katana swords used by the Samurai. Quite antique and very blunt. My ex-husband bought them on a business trip to Japan before we were married.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘What did you think?’ Gail asked Dov once they were back in the car.

‘I get the feeling Patricia Gimlet wasn’t being entirely candid with us.’

‘Yeah, and she didn’t seem at all surprised when we said we needed to talk to Damien in relation to Brierly’s murder.’

‘Doesn’t mean he did it,’ Dov pointed out, ‘the way she described him it seems like he was a troubled guy.’

‘True,’ Gail nodded in agreement, ‘and what about her claim her ex-husband had spoken to Brierly several times. Frank Gimlet was adamant he only knew him by sight.’ 

‘However, Patricia owns a chunk of EquanimityPlus. Would it be in her interests to point the finger at Frank or Damien?’ Dov asked.

‘Perhaps,’ Gail drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, ‘except if she brings down Gimlet she brings down the company.’

‘Not necessarily,’ Dov shifted in his seat, ‘it depends on how the company is structured. With a thirty percent share, Patricia would be on the board of directors. Maybe she’s aiming for a coup. Disgrace Gimlet, offer herself as a replacement.’

‘It’s a family company. Presumably Gimlet owns the other seventy percent.’ 

‘Not necessarily. Patricia said Gimlet set up the company using money from his first wife. What if Damien has a stake in EquanimityPlus too? That’s something we need to check.’

Gail nodded in agreement. ‘Was it just me or did you think those swords were kind of weird.’

‘Out of place,’ Dov suggested.

‘Yeah,’ Gail agreed, ‘Patricia claimed they were blunt but could one of them have been used to behead Brierly?’

‘It’s possible,’ Dov mused, ‘if it was sharp and if the killer knew what they were doing. Didn’t Holly say it was a clean cut?’

Gail nodded.

‘So it would have taken one blow. Definitely would have to be someone who knows how to wield a sword.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘Oh god, Holly are you okay,’ Gail exclaimed as she burst into the break room where Holly was seated at the table, an ice pack on her wrist. Elaine was sitting across from her, and by the look on her mother’s face, Gail had clearly interrupted her mid sentence. Gail wasn’t sure if Elaine’s presence was a good or a bad thing, but didn’t have space to process it right then. 

On returning to the station with Dov, Gail was met by an anxious Anna Robinson, who informed her about Holly. Now Gail rushed over to Holly and leaned down to hug her, the awkward angle knocking the ice pack to the ground. ‘Shit, sorry,’ she scooped up the pack and handed it to Holly. If the worried expression on her face hadn’t made her concern plain, Gail’s clumsiness certainly conveyed how distressed she was.

‘I’m fine honey,’ Holly smiled, even though a moment ago she had felt anything but fine. Somehow the appearance of Gail, even if she was uncharacteristically agitated, was reassuring. 

‘Oh shit,’ Gail said, taking Holly’s hand gently so she could examine her wrist. Francine had squeezed so hard the bruising was like a red bracelet, with a larger oval spot where she’d pressed with her thumb. ‘That looks bad. It must really hurt,’ Gail bit her lip, conscious of the inadequacy of her words. She pulled up a chair to sit beside Holly.

‘The ice pack is helping,’ Holly said, looking down at her arm. Gail was still holding her hand, but a little tentatively as if worried she might inadvertently cause Holly more pain.

‘This is assault, Holly,’ Gail looked across at Elaine, acknowledging her for the first time, ‘did you document this mother?’ Gail’s tone had changed. Her voice was low and quiet and controlled in a way Holly had come to recognize. It happened when Gail was so angry she could barely contain her fury. Yet when Gail was angry, really really angry, she kept it in check. She became very still, but very alert as if waiting for the right moment to strike.

‘Of course, Gail. We’ve photographed Holly’s injuries, and both Holly and Fiona Vincent have given statements, but,’ Elaine paused and arched an eyebrow, ‘Holly doesn’t want to press charges.’

‘You don’t want to press charges?’ Gail echoed in disbelief, ‘Francine’s behavior is escalating. I don’t want to sound alarmist, but next time she could do worse.’

‘Fiona Vincent gave Francine a very strong warning. Threatened her with arrest if she harassed either of us again,’ Holly said quietly.

‘And you think that’s enough?’ Gail did nothing to disguise her skepticism. ‘Holly, unless we put a stop to this, Francine will keep coming back. People like her it’s a pattern. Police officers, we,’ Gail nodded in the direction of her mother, ‘we see it all the time.’

‘Don’t think I haven’t tried to convince Holly that charging Dr Hart is the best course of action,’ Elaine said, ‘but she is immovable.’

‘The way Francine behaved it was like she was experiencing some sort of psychosis,’ Holly said.

‘Yeah, she’s a pyscho all right,’ Gail said, ‘and she should be locked up.’

‘No, right now she needs support. Psychiatric help. Arresting her isn’t going to achieve anything or actually stop her harassing us.’

‘Holly, don’t make excuses for her,’ Gail stood up from her chair with such force it teetered as if it were about to topple over but she grabbed it in time. ‘If you won’t press charges, then maybe I should go and have a chat with Francine.’ Unconsciously Gail’s hand moved to rest on the gun holstered to her belt. The gesture didn’t go unnoticed by either Holly or Elaine.

‘Gail,’ Holly said, drawing out her name in a sort of entreaty.

‘Holly, if you won’t take steps to keep yourself safe, then I will.’

‘Sit down, Gail’ Elaine said forcefully, ‘Fiona Vincent is just down the corridor, you don’t want her to overhear such wild talk when she is investigating your conduct in relation to Dr Hart.’

‘Surely this makes the review redundant,’ Gail said, ignoring her mother’s request to sit.

‘Under service regulations, the review will need to be completed. That said, Dr Hart’s actions and the fact Fiona witnessed them is excellent for your case. However, Gail, doing something hotheaded is a sure way to end your career, regardless of the fact Dr Hart is in the wrong.’

‘So we do nothing? Wait for her to hurt Holly again.’ Gail stared at her mother belligerently. Holly had a sudden flash of what it must have been like in the Peck household when Gail was growing up. The two of them engaged in these futile stand-offs, essentially on the same side but still butting heads, neither willing to give ground. The push and the pull - Elaine insistent, Gail overreacting. It was a pattern Gail had confided in Holly, she found hard to let go, something she was still working on with her therapist. 

‘Gail,’ Holly said again, trying to get her attention but Elaine cut across her.

‘Don’t worry Gail, there are other ways to deal with Dr Hart.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail said, hope overtaking doubt.

‘Oh yes,’ Elaine said, ‘you don’t take on the Pecks and expect to win.’

‘Jesus, Elaine, Gail,’ Holly burst out, ‘that’s not what I want. Francine needs help. This is overkill.’ 

She didn’t like the way Elaine was speaking. Like a call to arms. There was an arrogance to it and a surety like she knew evoking the Peck name would resonate with Gail, convince her to sign up to whatever Elaine had planned for Francine. It astounded Holly. Had the disgrace of her son and husband taught the Superintendent nothing? Even more astonishing was Gail’s reaction. The slight glint in her eye, as if Elaine had indeed hooked her in. 

‘Gail,’ Holly took her hand and squeezed. Gail looked down at Holly, then blinked and shook her head as if clearing it. In truth, Gail was perplexed by how quickly she’d become caught up in Elaine’s scheming. It took Holly squeezing her hand to ground her and now her expression turned contrite.

‘Um, yeah. Sorry,’ she said, sitting back down next to Holly. Gail rubbed a hand across her face and sighed heavily. She was embarrassed by her behavior and couldn’t bring herself to look directly at Holly again, not just yet. ‘It’s hard not to think the worst, you have to understand that Holly.’ She turned to Elaine. ‘What about a Peace Bond, could that work?’

‘A Peace Bond?’ Holly asked.

‘It’s a no-contact order. Unlike a Restraining Order which only applies to family, you know a partner or an ex-partner, you can take out a Peace Bond against an individual,’ Gail explained.

‘Only if you can prove you have a reasonable and rational fear that individual could cause you serious physical injury. It usually helps if you can provide documentation of when this individual has stalked or threatened you, as well as hospital records and photographs detailing injuries inflicted by the person,’ Elaine said.

‘So what you’re saying is this one incident is not enough?’ Holly asked.

Elaine nodded.

‘But,’ Gail said, ‘it is part of a series of events. Holly, remember Francine grabbed you and tried to kiss you in Rachel’s kitchen, even though you made it clear you were in a relationship and had no interest in pursuing anything with her. Then there are the nuisance complaints she made against me.’

‘Gail, it’s still not enough to prove Dr Hart is likely to hurt Holly again. At best, we could get her for harassment, but even then, given Dr Hart has lodged a complaint about you, a judge might think you’re trying to muddy the waters.’

‘Discredit her before she can discredit Gail,’ Holly said.

‘Indeed,’ Elaine said

‘Okay,’ Gail bit her lip and seemed to be considering, ‘let’s say you’re right Holly, and Francine is having some sort of psychotic episode, is there a chance she’s done this before? Are there other women she may have become obsessed with and harassed and stalked?’

‘It’s possible,’ Holly said.

‘So if we find Francine has a history of this, will you press charges?’ Gail‘s expression was earnest. Holly hesitated. ‘If she has a mental health issue, that will come out if she’s charged, Holly. It may be the push she needs to seek help,’ Gail continued, her voice gentle, persuasive, and Holly imagined this was how Gail was with the victims she interviewed. 

Was she naive to think Francine wouldn’t approach her again, Holly wondered? She didn’t see herself as a victim and maybe that was the problem. Somehow it felt shameful to be the target of a stalker or whatever Francine was. It was absurd to think that, but she couldn’t help it. 

‘This doesn’t happen to people like me,’ Lisa had told Holly after her apartment was torched by the crazed building manager, whose obsession with Lisa was as ugly as it was dangerous. At the time, Holly thought Lisa was being self-centered and maybe even a little elitist thinking she wasn’t the type to attract a stalker, but now she recognised the bewilderment behind the statement. The never imagining that this could be you. Holly became aware Gail and Elaine were looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.

‘Okay,’ she nodded.

Gail let out a breath in relief. ‘I should get you home now,’ she said.

‘It’s okay Gail. I’ll drive Holly home. I’ve arranged with Kurt and Becca to meet us there,’ Elaine explained.

‘Frankie doesn’t need me for the interview with Gimlet,’ Gail protested, ‘I can take Holly home.’

‘It’s all right,’ Holly said, gently placing a hand on the side of Gail’s cheek, ‘Frankie said you unsettle Gimlet and having you in the interview might make him slip up. If it helps the case, I want you to stay. Don’t worry, Becca and Kurt will fuss over me.’

‘I know, but Frankie said that before this happened to you. She’d understand,’ Gail started.

‘This is a stupid distraction. It’s more important you focus on the case,’ Holly interrupted, her voice firm.

‘Nothing is more important than you,’ Gail replied quietly, not caring her mother could hear what she was saying. These were sentiments Gail normally kept close. In fact, she was fairly certain only Holly understood the true shape and size of her feelings. 

Holly tilted her head to one side, smiled and kissed Gail’s cheek. ‘Sweet talker,’ she teased gently. 

Their eyes locked, and for a moment, merely seconds, Gail forgot they were sitting in the break room with Elaine. She forgot about Francine and about Gimlet sitting in the interview room down the corridor. She forgot about EquanimityPlus and the terrible fate of the animals they experimented on. She forgot about the decapitation of John Brierly and his lonely, brutal death, so ignoble they hadn’t even recovered the rest of his body. 

As Gail stared into those brown eyes, so full of warmth and affection, she forgot all this, and instead was suffused with the love she felt for Holly, so enormous, so great, so miraculous she could not find the words to do it justice. It was a feeling that knew no bounds, that was of this world and far beyond, making Gail wonder how it was she was so blessed and thanking her dumb luck that this nerd had walked into her crime scene in the woods all those years ago. 

Elaine coughed. A self-conscious sound, it seemed to come from far away, and Gail found herself turning slowly to identify the source of the discontent, the action an effort because it drew her away from Holly. 

Elaine would be mentally chiding her for not staying focused, Gail supposed. Even when it was personal, you should be alert, on guard, Elaine had always insisted. One of her many mantras. Gail didn’t really care what her mother thought, although she knew one thing for sure, from now on she would do anything to keep Holly safe. Which meant being vigilant and steadfast. 

It wasn’t a selfish desire, this desire to protect Holly. Even though Gail was well aware that before Holly some not so wonderful things had happened to her, and since Holly, she had opened herself up to a multitude of wonders and her world had become larger and happier, a sometimes joyful place Gail was finally content to inhabit. The act of loving someone like this, of wanting to make a good life with them, had made her want to be worthier, less cynical and self-centered and more generous. But even so, even though her life was better for having Holly in it, it wasn't for her own sake Gail wanted to keep Holly safe. It was for Holly and Holly alone.

Elaine shifted in her chair and coughed again, but Gail refused to look at her, and instead turned back to Holly.

‘I’ll be okay, Gail. I promise. I’ll see you when you get home,’ Holly said. 

Elaine stood up abruptly and muttered something about needing to speak to Fiona Vincent before taking Holly home. She was clearly relieved to be released from the room, and Holly couldn’t suppress a wry smile. She stood too then, and Gail followed suit, pulling Holly into a fierce hug.

‘I love you, you know that,’ Gail said, and was rewarded with that lop-sided smile she so adored.

‘And I love you,’ Holly replied, resting her forehead against Gail’s, ‘and everything is going to be okay, you know that.’

Gail hoped Holly was right. In fact, wished she could believe her, but she had a feeling, a cold and unpleasant feeling that had lodged in her gut and she couldn’t ignore, which was telling her this thing with Francine wasn’t over yet. Though she tried not to give into it, Gail also couldn’t stop the thought that just when she was making a good life, a worthwhile life full of love and happiness and promise, it would be her stupid luck for something to come along and threaten to take it all away. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And for those wondering about Frankie and Alannah, there will be more in the next chapter.


	41. Forty-one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters.....
> 
> At last an update.
> 
> It's so nice that 40 chapters in new people are still occasionally bookmarking and subscribing to this fic, and that the rest of you keep reading it. And of course, I so appreciate hearing from the dedicated band of reviewers :)
> 
> It is a very long chapter so that may make up for the long stretch between updates. My computer died halfway through writing this, so I completed it on an iPad (yay for backup in the Cloud) and I suspect there may be more typos than ever. So apologies for that.
> 
> This chapter is deliberately told completely from Gail’s point of view.
> 
> Hope you enjoy. Let me know!!

………………………………………………

Frankie was coming out of the interview room as Gail made her way down the corridor.

‘Fuck, I heard what happened with Holly,’ she exclaimed, ‘you want me to go arrest Francine?’

Gail smiled weakly. ‘It may come to that.’

‘I always suspected that woman was unbalanced. How is Holly doing?’

‘Being Holly – brave, stoic and strangely calm. If this was happening to me she’d be having a major freak out.’

‘And you’re not?’ Frankie raised an eyebrow and Gail scowled at her. ‘Do you need to go home? Be with Holly?’ 

‘Once we’re done here. Holly’s parents are at our house. Let’s get this interview with Gimlet over.’

Frankie looked at Gail for a long moment, assessing, and nodded as if satisfied. ‘Okay. Gimlet has had very little to say so far. Denies knowledge of what was happening in the basement lab and blames Phil Holbeck, the head research scientist at EquanimityPlus. I think we need you to go rattle his cage. We haven’t said anything about his son yet. I thought we’d save that surprise for you.’

‘Okay, let’s nail this bastard,’ Gail said vehemently. The whole Francine thing had only heightened the antipathy she was felt towards Gimlet, especially after seeing the condition of the animals in the basement lab.

‘You’re so certain he’s our murderer.’

‘If you can allow puppies to be tortured like that, murder is not such a big leap.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

‘So Mr Gimlet,’ Gail drawled, ‘I bet you’d do anything to keep your company afloat.’

Gimlet stared at Gail, making no attempt to disguise his disdain. ‘I can see what you’re trying to do detective,’ he said with a heavy sigh to make clear, in case Gail and Frankie were in any doubt, how irritated he was. ‘You’re suggesting I would resort to murder to save EquanimityPlus.’

‘Well, did you?’ Gail’s tone was conversational, belying the directness of the question.

‘Nice try, detective,’ Gimlet sneered. ‘Can she asks questions like that,’ he said, turning to his lawyer. 

As the lawyer began to nod, Frankie spoke up. ‘This is a murder investigation, Mr Gimlet. The victim is one of your employees. We have a right and an obligation to follow all lines of inquiry.’

Gimlet huffed out a breath and, crossing his arms, leaned back in his chair. There was definitely something disconcerting about him. It wasn’t just his stare, which was pitiless and unflinching, or his air of detachment. No, there was a coldness about him, which Gail, as she held his gaze across the interrogation table, realized reminded her of Perick. The complete absence of empathy. The calculating way he sized you up. Maybe that's why she found Gimlet so unnerving. She knew exactly what people like this were capable of.

‘You really think I decapitated a man because he what, was going to tell tales to the SPCA,’ Gimlet scoffed, ‘we’ll be slapped with a fine and be subject to more stringent inspections, nothing more.’

‘I think you’ll find the penalties are a little harsher,’ Gail said, ‘according to the SPCA your treatment of those animals, and the fact that they were obtained illegally, are grounds to shut down EquanimityPus.’

‘Look, detective, I’m distressed as you are by the way those animals were treated and I’m grateful you uncovered this cruelty. As I told your colleagues, I was unaware it was going on. If I’m guilty of anything, it’s being too trusting a boss, too soft on my employees. I like to be hands-off, let my research scientists take the lead. But I can see now that was a mistake. This is a wake-up call. We can introduce better practices so this never happens again.’

Gail looked at Gimlet skeptically. Nothing about this man said he was a hands-off boss. It was all about control. You could see it in his tidy grooming, not a hair out of place or a crease in his shirt, and in the way he spoke, his tone measured and his words carefully chosen. She bet he knew everything that went on at his company right down to the very last detail. Nothing would escape that gimlet-eye of his. 

‘I’m guessing those big pharmaceuticals who pay you to conduct experiments won’t want to be associated with EquanimityPlus once this comes to light,’ she said, a touch provocatively.

‘I wish Brierly had come to me with this. I could have acted sooner. Put a stop to it,’ Gimlet spread out his hands in an if only gesture, choosing to ignore Gail’s dig about the pharmaceuticals. In truth, he must be shitting himself about this. The pharmaceuticals were his life blood. Clearly, Gimlet was building a defence against the animal cruelty charges

‘So if he had come to you, and had you then acted, Brierly might still be alive,’’ Gail said matter of factually, keeping her skepticism to herself.

‘As I’ve stated before. I think it's pure coincidence Brierly worked for EquanimityPlus. That fact, and the treatment of the animals has nothing to do with his murder.’

‘And yet,’ Frankie said, ‘it appears he was collecting evidence to prove your company was torturing animals, and you’ve just been busted for doing just that. Feels like too much of a coincidence not to be connected.’

‘The animals were treated a little roughly, yes, but to say they were tortured is excessive,’ Gimlet said, so smooth and unflappable it was clear not an inch of him felt remorse.

‘Your son is opposed to the torture of these animals,’ Gail deliberately used the word torture again, not only to niggle Gimlet but to stop him from downplaying the horror of what had taken place.

‘My son is six years old. I doubt he knows what I do for a living, let alone that my company conducts drug trials on animals –trials, I might add, which are saving countless lives.’ 

‘I’m not referring to Felix. I’m talking about your first born son, Damien.’

There was a flicker in Gimlet’s eyes, a reaction so tiny Gail almost missed it, but it was there and then in the very next instant Gimlet composed himself.

‘I wouldn’t know. Damien and I are estranged.’

‘And why is that?’

Gimlet shrugged, making a good show of being unperturbed. ‘You know, teenage rebellion. Boys need to act out against their fathers – establish their own place in the world. I’m sure he’ll get over it.’

‘So no particular event triggered the estrangement? A disagreement perhaps about the way you run your company?’ Gail pushed.

‘No. We drifted apart. That’s all.’

‘So when was the last time you saw him?’ Frankie asked.

‘Three years ago. Not long after his eighteenth birthday.’

‘You sure about that?’ Gail asked, and then, when Gimlet nodded, continued, ‘your ex-wife has a distinct memory of you arguing with Damien just over a year ago at the Bridle Path house.’

This time Gimlet did react. ‘The bitch,’ he spat out, leaning forward in his chair looking as if he might leap up out of it at any moment, ‘she’d do anything to bring me down. You can’t possibly believe she’s telling the truth?’

‘So Mr Gimlet you are absolutely certain you have not seen your son Damien for three years?’ Gail asked calmly, ignoring his question.

‘Yes,’ Gimlet said, relaxing back into the chair. He clearly thought Gail satisfied with his answer.

‘And have you visited the Bridle Path house since your divorce.’

‘Of course. To collect my two youngest children. They spend every second weekend with me.’

Lucky them, thought Gail. Gimlet was such a cold fish he actually made Bill Peck look like a reasonable father. Hard as it was to imagine, maybe, like Bill, he had his moments. 

‘You said you knew John Brierly only by sight, yet your ex-wife recalls you saying he’d been pestering you for a promotion.’

‘She’s a fantasist, detective. A compulsive liar. Why’d you think I divorced her? I have no recollection of speaking to Brierly.’

Gimlet’s lawyer, who had said very little through out the interrogation, fidgeted with some papers, shuffling them into order, and then looked up at Gail and Frankie. ‘Detectives, I believe my client has been most cooperative with you but as the hour is late, unless you have any further questions, I would request this interview be terminated.’

Cooperative. That was not the word Gail would have used to describe Gimlet. Dissembling perhaps. Specious. Now that was another good word. While on the surface Gimlet’s story was plausible, she had a strong feeling that very little of what he had told them was actually true.

Frankie gave a curt nod. ‘Very well, but we may require Mr Gimlet for further questioning.’

‘Oh, one last thing. Would you have any idea where Damien is living?’ Gail said as she began to stand, her voice casual like the question was of no great import. Just an afterthought really.

‘No. I told you, we’re estranged.’

‘Hmm. Were you aware Damien has changed his name and was behind the animal rights protest outside EquanimityPlus?’

‘That’s a lie. No son of mine would be involved in something like that.’  
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It was nearly 11 pm when Gail trudged up her porch steps. Inside, Kurt and Becca were seated at the kitchen table drinking herbal tea.

‘I’m sorry I’m so late. The interview took longer than expected,’ Gail said, ‘how’s Holly?’

'She went to bed an hour ago,' Becca said, 'Holly always plays this kind of thing down but I think she was exhausted.'

'Delayed shock,' Kurt suggested.

'Possibly,' Gail agreed.

'Should we be worried. Your mother said the police would do everything to protect Holly, but if we're dealing with someone who's, well deranged,' Becca trailed off and sighed. ‘It seems ridiculous something like this is happening when she lives with a police detective.’

‘Becca,’ Kurt chided gently, ‘you know this could happen to anyone.’

‘I’m sorry, I know. It’s just,’ Becca clenched her hands into two tight fists, ‘I couldn’t bear if Holly got hurt.’

‘Becca,’ Gail said solemnly, ‘I promise I’m not going to let anything happen to your daughter.’ She knew she shouldn’t be giving such an undertaking. Yes, she was a police officer but still, there was no way she could guarantee Holly’s safety. It was a rash promise, one made to reassure herself as much as Becca. The older woman’s relief was palpable. Kurt, on the other hand, was circumspect, like he recognized Gail might not be able to deliver on her undertaking.

‘I know you will,’ Becca said.

They went home soon after, but not before Becca insisted Kurt accompany Gail around the house to ensure every door and window was locked. ‘Keep us in the loop,’ Kurt said as they left, ‘we need to know what's happening.’ Gail hesitated before going upstairs to bed. Then she detoured to the spare room where she kept her gun safe. Holly wouldn’t like it, but she had a promise to keep.

Holly was asleep and Gail slipped in behind her, lightly draping her arm around Holly’s waist and snuggling in close, careful not to disturb her. She breathed in the scent of Holly. Vanilla and cinnamon and something else Gail couldn’t quite place but nevertheless a synthesis that had come to represent love and comfort and security and really everything she adored about Holly.

At 2 am Gail was still wide-awake. Not long after going to bed, she heard Chloe and Dov come in. They’d insisted on sleeping here tonight rather than at Dov’s apartment because ‘you know, just in case,’ Dov said, all serious and concerned. ‘Not that anything is going to happen,’ Chloe had smiled too brightly. 

After tossing this way and that, Gail finally found herself staring at the ceiling. She tried not to think about Francine, turning her mind to the case instead. After Gimlet left the station, Frankie couldn't hide her frustration. 

‘That was a monumental waste of time,’ she’d said, ‘we got nothing out of him.’

‘You think,’ Gail said in surprise, ‘the more I talk to Gimlet the more I’m convinced he’s our murderer.’

‘Just cause you don’t like him,’ Frankie started.

‘No,’ Gail cut across her, ‘he gave us just enough but not enough. He’s hiding something. And he lied about when he last saw Damien and how well he knew Breirly.’

‘Unless his ex is lying. Maybe Gimlet’s hiding Damien because he murdered Brierly.’

‘Breirly and Damien were working together to expose EquanimityPlus.’

‘According to Francine Hart,’ Frankie rolled her eyes as she said the doctor’s name.

‘Francine had no reason to lie about that,’ Gail said, ‘but whatever, Damien is the key to this, which means we need to find him.’

God, now she was back to thinking about Francine. That woman was trouble. Gail had sensed it the first time she met Francine when Lisa was parading her around the hospital, trying to convince Francine to take a job in Toronto. A feeling there was something off about the surgeon. It wasn't just because, like Lisa, Francine had dismissed her as being out of Holly’s league. It wasn't jealousy, even though at the time, Gail had tried to dismiss it as such. Easier to think that, then imagine Francine a troublemaker. But there was no reason to be jealous. For starters, Holly had made abundantly clear her disinterest in the surgeon. Regardless, and more importantly, Gail felt totally secure in her relationship with Holly, which was an interesting and wholly welcome first.

She had to convince Holly to charge Francine. Becca was right. Holly tended to make light of things when it came to her own wellbeing. She hated fuss. For someone as self-possessed as Holly, it was hard to see herself as a victim. Gail got all that. Like so many people before her who had been stalked and preyed upon, Holly probably hoped Francine’s behavior was a one-off, something out of character and unlikely to repeated. That having been caught and warned, she’d back off. 

But Gail had been a victim. She knew about obsession. How it festered and grew, often more so when thwarted. She’d looked into the eyes of a madman who knew no reason and for whom a warning would have been an irritant. Worst still, may have spurred him to prove his invisibility, for psychopaths like Perick were nothing if not egotistical. Was Francine a psychopath? Gail didn’t think so, but having been a victim, she knew there was no point taking a risk. Knew too how volatile and unpredictable someone like that could become if things didn't go according to their plan or when put under the least amount of pressure.

‘Too much thinking,’ came Holly’s voice out of the darkness.

‘Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you,’ Gail said softly, apologetically even though there had been no complaint in Holly’s tone, rather it was warm and gentle and full of concern. 

Holly didn’t say anything. Just turned so she was facing Gail and could lean down to kiss her. Tenderly, lovingly, unhurriedly. Gail couldn’t help but respond to those soft lips against her own. It was those lips formed in a crooked smile which had drawn her to Holly. Well, that and Holly’s particular brand of sass. That very first day in the woods when Gail couldn’t get a reading on her feelings. In fact was perplexed by her reaction to this woman in her strange puffy teal colored jacket, and so did what Gail Peck did best, she hid it beneath snark. 

Here in the darkened bedroom, Gail savored the feel of those lips, the kiss a kind of anchoring to Holly, a tangible reassurance on a day when fear had crept into her heart. It was nothing like the fear Gail felt lying in Perick’s basement, believing she about to die and knowing exactly what he intended to do to her before that final act. Then Gail had been at a low ebb, uncertain of her worth, and that was before Jerry sacrificed himself for her. So she had simply prayed death would come quickly, all the while knowing Perick would not spare her from his perverse ritual, not when the suffering of his victims was as thrilling to him as the kill itself. But now, now she would do anything to save Holly and yep, if needed she would trade her life for Holly’s. In a heartbeat. 

Holly moved over Gail, holding herself up on an elbow and dipping down to kiss her again but less languorously now. Actually, quite determinedly, leaving Gail in no doubt as to her intention. She slipped a hand up under Gail’s top to caress her breast, pinching a nipple between thumb and forefinger. Gail found herself pushing up and into Holly, sliding a thigh between her legs and placing a hand on her ass to pull her closer. They began rocking against each other, the material of their pajama pants producing a delicious, teasing friction. Then Holly started moving down Gail’s body, pushing her top up and leaving a trial of kisses until Gail pulled her back.

‘I need you up here, with me,’ she said. In the dark, Gail couldn’t see that lopsided smile, but she sensed it. 

Holly kissed her again and tugged Gail’s top up over her head, then pulled off her own. Their pajama pants went next, their movements a little frenzied as if all this clothing between them had suddenly become too much. Holly cupped Gail’s center with her hand, and then placed a finger on her clit, moving it in tight little circles and then in an up and down motion. 

‘You are so wet,’ she whispered huskily, moving to kneel between Gail’s legs, pushing two, then three fingers inside her. 

It didn’t take long before Gail was arching her back and crying out. The orgasm was intense and long and she knew she was loud. It started with a fluttering in Gail’s center and then spread to her stomach until she felt it throughout her body and right to the tips of her toes and fingers. Warm and tingling and somehow soaring and immeasurably huge, until just for a moment everything went blank in the best possible way and all she knew was a euphoria. She hoped Chloe and Dov were asleep and then she banished any thought of them as Holly again began a descent of her body. When Holly took Gail’s clit in her mouth, Gail, despite the strength of that first orgasm, soon found herself coming again.

‘Relaxed now?’ Holly grinned.

Gail let out a contented sigh. ‘I’m not sure I can move just yet.’ She reached out and hugged Holly to her.

‘I need to pee. I’ll be back,’ Holly said, getting up and going to the bathroom.

When she returned Gail was sitting up, leaning against the headboard. 

‘Still awake?’ Holly asked and Gail made a ‘mmm’ noise. If she could have made out Gail’s face in the darkness, Holly would have seen that look of vulnerability. It was one Gail often wore after sex with Holly, trusting and open, but now it held a tension, barely perceptible but which had not been entirely quieted by Holly’s attentions.

Getting back on the bed, Holly straddled Gail, tilting her head down to kiss her, her hands on Gail’s cheeks. Playfully at first, little nips, until gradually the kiss became more forceful until they were both out of breath. Before long, Holly was riding Gail’s fingers, having moved her own hand to her clit, her fingers working in increasingly frenetic circles the nearer she came to losing all control. 

Gail could always tell when Holly was close. There was something in the way her body sort of hummed that signaled the build up. Holly’s breathing quickened and the noises she was making became louder until she stilled and just for a second it seemed like her breath stopped. Then Holly laughed like she always did after sex. Delighted. Uninhibited and Gail loved her for it. 

That had been wholly unexpected, Gail mused as her eyes began to close, her brain barely functioning, which made sense given her body was now flooded with endorphins. God, when did she start thinking about sex in terms of chemicals? She was becoming such a nerd, but that thought seemed to float away as soon as it occurred. Holly had told her studies showed that in women sexual excitement numbed the nervous system, blocking it to pain and only allowing pleasure. Was it wise to give into pleasure at a time like this, Gail wondered, but that question drifted the same way as the earlier thought and in that same instant she fell asleep.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

‘What the hell is this?’ Holly’s voice woke Gail. Not warm and gentle like last night but pissed off, like Holly was doing her best to keep her rage in check. 

Gail struggled to open her eyes and pull herself up into a sitting position. The clock on the bedside table said 6.45am. Great. Not even four hours sleep, Gail winced internally, knowing today would be a struggle. As her eyes focused, she saw Holly was standing next to her, still naked and in the chill morning air little goose bumps had appeared on her skin. Clearly just out of bed, and pointing to something on the floor. Oh shit, the gun, Gail realized. She’d tucked it just under the bed, far enough in to conceal it, or so she thought, but not too far that she couldn’t reach down and grab it.

‘Um. Holly, you’re like super smart. I think you can figure it out,’ Gail said facetiously, trying for humor but, judging from the expression on Holly’s face, failing spectacularly.

‘Very amusing,’ Holly said, not sounding the least bit amused and crossing her arms over her chest.

‘You’re freezing. Come back to bed,’ Gail tried.

‘Why is there a gun under the bed?’

‘Um. Just in case. You know,’ Gail puffed out a breath. How to explain? Her head was so full of all the reasons she needed to keep Holly safe. There was her undertaking to Becca and then there was the fact that she loved Holly too much to let anything happen to her. Then there was the fact, that she of all people, should be able to safeguard Holly.

It sounded simple enough, but in reality it was far more complicated. Holly had always been adamant that just because Gail was a police officer it wasn’t her job to protect Holly, that their’s was a relationship of equals (ha, tell that to Lisa), that they looked out for each other. Yet, Gail also knew Holly was so used to being on her own, so fiercely independent, she sometimes misread Gail’s solicitude as paternalistic and controlling. Then Gail would have to explain that was not her intention. Sometimes though, just like earlier this evening at the station, Gail couldn’t help but go all Peck – despite her best efforts, it was hard to completely renounce all that indoctrination - and just like this evening, Holly would gently bring her back.

‘So if Francine broke into the house, which is a far-fetched scenario anyway, you’d what, shoot her? I mean I guess that’s what you cops do. Shoot first, asks questions later.’

Gail bit her lip. ‘Holly, I’m not that sort of cop,’ she said quietly. Holly didn’t really believe that Gail felt certain. She was just lashing out, surely.

Holly blew out a breath, and with it lost the hard look on her face. ‘I know,’ she sighed heavily, ‘it’s just. Oh fuck. I’m sorry. That was unfair.’

‘I just wanted to make sure you were safe,’ Gail said, her voice small. 

‘Guns don’t make me feel safe, you know that,’ Holly said.

‘It’s only while Francine remains a threat. I just thought¬–’

‘What, that you’ll keep a gun under the pillow. And when does she stop being a threat? Next week. In a year? Two? How long do we have to live like this?’ Holly shivered.

‘You’re freezing,’ Gail said, lifting up the duvet, ‘come back to bed.’ 

‘No, I’m going to have a shower and go to work.’

After Holly left the room, Gail lay very still, her face screwed up. She was annoyed with herself for not better explaining why she thought the gun necessary and frustrated by Holly’s unwillingness to concede Francine might do her harm. 

Normally, she and Holly showered together, which Gail had to admit was not always conducive to getting clean or being on time for work. Ever since that first time, shower sex had been something of a thing for her and Holly. Today, however, Gail was completely certain she would not be welcome, even if it were only to shower.

Coming downstairs for breakfast, Gail found Holly on her way out with Dov.

‘He’s giving me a ride to the morgue,’ she said, kissing Gail quickly but not looking directly at her. 

Still not completely forgiven, Gail thought, and that realization made a little bubble of resentment rise up inside her. Fuck, she was only trying to do what was right. Then Holly was gone, out on the porch and moving in the direction of Dov’s car. Gail grabbed Dov’s arm as he headed out the door.

‘Make sure you escort Holly into the morgue, okay,’ Gail said, knowing from the way Dov winced she was griping his arm way too tightly.

‘Of course,’ he nodded, ‘don’t worry Gail. I’ll look out for Holly.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘Yes, that’s Dominic,’ Mimi nodded, handing the photo to Elspeth who nodded in confirmation, ‘such a nice young man. I hope he’s not mixed up in this.’

The photo was taken a few years ago and showed Frank Gimlet with an arm slung around his son’s shoulder. They were somewhere tropical, clearly on holiday, and Damien Gimlet looked distinctly uncomfortable like he’d rather be anywhere else than having a photo taken with his old man. Patricia Gimlet had supplied Gail and Dov with the photo when they were at her house the previous evening. ‘It’s the most recent one I have,’ she’d shrugged, ‘but if it helps.’

‘He looks a little older now,’ Elspeth added, ‘but that other man in the photo. I recognize him.’

‘You do?’ Gail asked, ‘where from?’

‘I’ve seen him several times, over at the lot. I guess he must own it. It looked like he was inspecting it. Once he had surveyors with him.’

‘And have you seen him recently. For example in the last few weeks?’ said Chloe She’d accompanied Gail to the costume shop.

‘Not that I can recall,’ Elspeth said, ‘but he’s a nasty man.’

‘Nasty?’ Gail arched an eyebrow.

‘Last time he was on the lot, two boys walking their dog stopped to let it defecate on the corner of the lot. The man was furious. Shouted at the boys. Kicked the dog.’

Sounds about right, Gail wanted to say but instead exchanged a knowing look with Chloe.

‘I went outside and waved my cane at him,’ Elspeth said, ‘I threatened to report him to the police.’

‘How did he respond?’ Gail asked. Elspeth must be close to eighty. The woman had chutzpah that was for sure.

‘He swore at me and told me I should be in old people’s home,’ Elspeth sniffed disparagingly.

‘Really?’ Gail said, sounding outraged, her newfound admiration for Elspeth making her completely forget that on first meeting the owners of the costume shop she had suggested to Chloe they might be better off in a nursing home.

‘Now he, he I could see as a murderer. Not Dominic,’ Elspeth poked an arthritic finger at the photo to indicate Frank Gimlet.

‘At this stage, we’re just hoping Dominic can help us with our inquiries,’ Chloe reassured.

‘Did Dominic ever say where he lived?’ Gail asked.

‘No’ Mimi shook her head, ‘but it must have been near by because one day he had a bag of washing he was taking to the laundromat down the street.’

‘And somewhere without laundry facilities,’ Gail added.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

‘Yeah, I’ve seen him, comes in on a semi-regular basis,’ Ace, the attendant at the laundromat, said. He was a scruffy sort of fellow, beanie pulled low on his forehead, his clothes baggy and in need of a wash. Not a great advertisement for the business, Gail thought. 

‘Recently?’

‘Ah,’ Ace scratched the stubble on his chin so it made an unpleasant rasping sound, ‘before Christmas. Probably three weeks back.’

‘Did you get the impression he lived around here?’

Ace shrugged. ‘Couldn’t say. I never spoke to him except to say good morning or afternoon and if he asked for change for the machines. ’

‘Do you have security cameras?’ Chloe asked.

‘Nope,’ Ace said.

‘Okay, well thanks,’ Gail handed Ace her card, ‘if you remember anything else give us a call.’

They were almost out the door – one of those ones which set off an electronic bell when it was opened, the chimes loud and jarring – when Ace called out.

‘Hey detectives, wait. We get a lot of people here from the tent city in Victoria Park. I’ve seen that guy speaking to some of them.’

‘Like he knew them?’ Gail asked.

‘Yeah, I guess.’

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘The Tame Avenger,’ Dov said as Gail and Chloe walked back into the detective’s pen. He had a big, smug grin on his face like he’d won the lottery or, as it transpired, cracked a code.

‘What,’ Gail asked, ‘isn’t being a cop enough for you Dov? Are you becoming a vigilante now? Maybe you can get a cute little outfit with tights and a cape. Oh wait, that wouldn’t scare the bad guys off because they’d see how puny you really are.’

Frankie, who was seated next to Dov, suppressed a smirk. It wasn’t so much that Gail’s comments were particularly amusing, it was more this whole routine Gail had going with Dov where she couldn’t pass up a chance to taunt him.

‘Ha ha, very funny Gail,’ Dov gave a long-suffering sigh, ‘it’s the name Damien Gimlet used in the chatroom with John Brierly. I’ve traced all their conversations. They’d been planning to expose EquanimityPlus for a long time. He convinced Brierly to take that footage of the animals in the lab. And get this, the name Damien means one who tames or subdues.’

‘Aka the Tame Avenger,’ Chloe said.

‘Exactly,’ Dov grinned.

‘That’s a relief,’ Gail said.

‘What is?’ Dov asked.

‘If Damien is the Tame Avenger, we’ll be spared the vision of you in tights.’

‘You can talk Gail with your noodle arms.’

Gail arched an eyebrow. ‘One I don’t have fantasies about being a superhero. Two,’ she gestured to her body, ‘all this hotness in a skin tight costume, of course, I'm going to look good.’

‘Gail, I’m sure you’ll mesmerize villains with your magnetism,’ Frankie said drily, ‘but now children it is time to do some actual work. You know the thing you’re paid to do.’

Gail pushed her bottom lip forward in a pout, her eyebrows furrowed exaggeratedly, so she did indeed resemble a child. It was done in jest. Dov, however, looked somewhat chastened. ‘She started it,’ he began to say, but Frankie held up her hand in a stop gesture.

‘Enough.’

‘So,’ Chloe said, who had regarded the whole exchange with good-natured resignation, ‘were you able to get a lead on Damien’s location, Dov?’

‘I haven't been able to trace an ISP address. He used Internet cafes, libraries and any place he could get free wifi. He was clever - moved around. It had to be deliberate to avoid being traced.’

‘Any of those Internet cafes or libraries near Victoria Park?’ Gail asked.

Dov pulled up a document on his computer and considered it for a moment.  
‘Yep, most of them are within a ten-kilometer radius. What are you thinking Gail?’

‘I think that's where Damien is living,’ Gail said, and then told Dov and Frankie about what Ace had said about Damien knowing people from Victoria Park. ‘Plus Mitchell Warner, the junkie John Brierly paid to buy a burner phone was living at Victoria Park. What's the bet Damien knew him and even pointed him out to Brierly.’

‘And if Damien was careful about covering his tracks, chances are he wouldn't approach Warner to buy the phone himself,’ Chloe said.

‘So fancy a trip to Victoria Park,’ Frankie said, looking as if she were about to stand and spring into action. She seemed quite buoyed by this information. Unsurprising, Gail thought, given it brought them a step closer to the man who it seemed held the key to this whole thing.

'Not so fast,'Chloe said and, ignoring Frankie, who screwed up her face in annoyance, continued, ‘things at Victoria Park are volatile. The city has periodically tried to shut down the camp. The drug squad did a raid a few months back which ended with a number of uniforms and squatters in hospital. It was a low point. Oliver has been working hard to establish good relations with the squatters ever since. I don't think we should go in there without clearing it with him first.’

‘Oh, I remember that raid. It was a fiasco,’ Frankie said, ‘it will probably go in the training manual of how not to do a raid. I’ll talk to Oliver,’ Frankie started to rise up out of the chair again.

‘He’s at a meeting in the big building. Won’t be back until 2 pm,’ Dov said.

‘Damm,’ Frankie sat back down again, ‘let’s get lunch. Meet back here in an hour.’

…………………………………………..

Ten minutes later Frankie and Gail were standing at the counter of one of Gail’s regular cafés. It was halfway between 15 and the morgue and was the go-to place for Holly’s favorite sandwich. Not that Gail wanted to think about Holly. Not right now, at least. Not until she came up with a plan for how to deal with this whole Francine thing. A plan Holly would agree to. Problem was, short of charging Francine, Gail couldn't think of what else to do to protect Holly.

'Oh shit,’ Frankie said, for all intents and purposes sounding like the world was coming to an end, which was dramatic for the normally unflappable detective.

'What,' Gail said, looking around wildly, and instinctively reaching for her gun.

‘Shit, don’t look,’ Frankie grabbed her arm urgently and pulled Gail back to face the counter, ‘she’ll notice us.’

‘Who?’ Gail started to turn around again but Frankie stopped her.

‘I said don’t look,’ she hissed.

‘Look at what?’ Gail was beginning to feel irritated. It was annoying enough that Frankie wasn't explaining what was going on, but the way she kept grabbing Gail’s arm was starting to grate. ‘And stop touching me.’

Frankie ostentatiously removed her hand from Gail’s wrist. ‘It's Alannah. Having lunch with Holly.’

‘Where,’ Gail turned automatically at the mention of Holly. Frankie grabbed the back of Gail’s leather jacket and was pulling her back, but it was too late. Holly and it seemed Alannah had spotted them. Holly had a wide smile. Weird. Maybe she was forgiven, Gail thought. 

‘Fuck, now they’ve seen us, Peck. You better go over and say something.’

‘Why don’t you go talk to them,’ Gail whined.

‘Because Alannah’s not speaking to me.’

‘Or actually, you’re not speaking to Alannah.’

‘Whatever,’ Frankie waved her hand dismissively, ‘why don't you want to speak to Holly? Normally you take any excuse to orbit her.’

‘Orbit? What the fuck Anderson?’

‘You know what I mean. You can't keep away from Holly. So what's up. And by the way, she’s waving.’

Gail looked down at her boots and twisted her mouth. ‘I put a gun under the bed last night,’ she blurted out in a rush, the omission making her feel a little embarrassed because of course, she should have known how Holly would react.

‘And Holly found it in this morning?’ Frankie ask. Gail nodded. ‘Jesus, you’re an idiot, Peck. Go and apologize.’

‘What? I was just trying to keep her safe.’

‘Holly hates guns. You know that,’ Frankie’s tone was incredulous, ‘and what were you going to do if Francine broke in. Shoot her? That’d go down well with the top brass.’’

‘Yeah, yeah. It was a dumb idea.’

‘So go tell her that,’ Frankie gave Gail a little push in the direction of Holly and Alannah’s table. 

Gail scowled. A moment ago Frankie was trying to make her pretend she hadn't seen Holly and Alannah. Now she was practically ordering her to go talk to Holly. Gail looked up. Holly was still smiling, although there was a hint of puzzlement in her expression. Gail bit her lip and then, taking a deep breath, threaded her way through the other tables until she reached Holly and Alannah. It would have been easy to miss them. They were seated at the back - the café was a popular place and being lunchtime it was especially busy.

‘For a minute there I wondered if you were ignoring us,’ Holly said, but she was smiling. The lop-sided smile that made Gail’s heart catch.

Before Gail could reply, Alannah spoke. 'Well, clearly Frankie is,’ she said, looking beyond Gail to the front counter.

Gail whipped her head around to see Frankie disappearing out the door. 

‘Apparently, we are all of six years old,’ she said apologetically but Alannah was already standing.

‘I'm going to talk to her,’ she said determinedly and hurried off after Frankie.

‘So you were ignoring me? ’Holly asked, sounding surprised.

‘I,‘ Gail shifted from one foot to the other, at a loss for what to say. It was unusual for her to be uncomfortable around Holly of all people. ‘I think I'm an idiot.’

‘No, you’re not,’ Holly flashed that warm smile again and patted the seat next to her, ‘sit down for a minute.’

‘Okay,’ Gail said, uncertainly, like she was expecting to be chastised. Holly was seated on a long, cushioned bench that ran the length of the back wall and, given the nearness of the adjacent table, Gail had no choice but to squeeze in next to her. 

‘Why do you think you’re an idiot?’

‘I should never have done that thing last night,’ Gail said, lowering her voice and deliberately avoiding using the word ‘gun’ given the close proximity of the neighboring tables.

‘What particular thing are you referring to Gail,’ Holly smirked, her voice suddenly husky.

Gail colored. ‘Not that thing,’ she said in a hoarse whisper, but not quiet enough that a woman at the adjoining table didn't look up in amusement. She smiled at Gail which made Gail even more flustered because really the woman was quite cute. Short black hair and an impish smile, and if Holly wasn’t back in Gail’s life she was just the sort of person Gail might strike up a conversation with. ‘That other thing. You know. The thing you didn't like.’

‘Oh,’ Holly said, as understanding dawned on her, ‘oh. Is that why you were avoiding me.’

‘I thought you were mad,’ Gail said, pulling at a loose thread on the cushion, ‘it seemed like you couldn't wait to get away this morning.’ She stopped and glanced at the woman at the other table who seemed to be taking an even keener interest in the conversation. Not appreciating the eavesdropping, Gail shifted even closer to Holly. At this rate, she thought, she’d be in Holly’s lap before long. ‘And I felt like you didn't want to kiss me goodbye.’

‘Oh honey,‘ Holly said, taking Gail’s hand, ‘I thought you were mad at me for not pressing charges against Francine and because you think I’m not taking her threats seriously enough.’

‘Oh. So we’re both idiots,’ Gail said quietly.

Holly didn’t say anything, just shifted so she was facing Gail. Then she cupped her hands around Gail’s cheeks and kissed her on the lips. ‘Better,’ she said, pulling back.

‘Much better,’ Gail grinned, leaning in for another kiss. Although this time she lingered longer, forgetting for a moment where they were. Holly broke the kiss again and then looked across at the next table. Gail followed her gaze. The eavesdropping woman was regarding them with interest. 

‘I think your admirer is disappointed,’ Holly teased in a whisper, leaning into Gail.

‘My what,’ Gail made a face. She'd seen the look the woman had given her. The once over when she sat down, but she wasn't going to admit that to Holly. She was used to people, women and men, finding her hot, but it didn’t make her big headed. It was just a matter of fact. Most of them didn’t stick around once they got to know her. Holly had but then Holly wasn’t most people. It was a reason to love Holly unreservedly, but just one among many and not the most compelling either. Deciding to ignore the reference to the woman at the other table, Gail said earnestly, ‘Look, Holly, I know I screwed up.’

‘You were worried,’ Holly interrupted, ‘and you were right. I’ve been in denial. I didn't really want to admit this was happening.’

‘Okay,’ Gail could hear the wariness in her voice, ‘why the change of heart.’

‘It’s not exactly a change of heart. I still think Francine needs help. Alannah agrees.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail tried not to sound dubious.

‘Alannah thought there was something not quite right about Francine the very first time they met. The night of Lisa’s birthday, she noticed Francine seemed angry that people, well mainly me, were ignoring her. Apparently, there have been a few incidents at the hospital too. Other staff have commented Francine likes everything to revolve around her.’

‘Well, yeah duh she’s a narcissist,’ Gail said, as it were the most obvious thing in the world.

'Close but no cigar,' Holly smiled, ‘Alannah suspects Francine has histrionic personality disorder and I’m inclined to agree. I’m kind of annoyed with myself for not picking it up sooner.’

‘Histrionic as in melodramatic? Holly, I think this is more than that.’

‘You’re right, it’s more than melodrama. True, people with this kind of personality disorder can be theatrical and overly emotional, but that’s because they crave attention. In fact, they hate not being the center of attention and will even use sex to get that attention. Even in inappropriate situations like at work.’

‘Or when people clearly aren't interested.’

‘Yeah,’ Holly twisted her mouth ruefully.

'Holly, I hate to ask again but what did you ever see in Francine?’

Holly blew out a breath. ‘Histrionic personality types can be very charming and flirtatious, you know the life of the party. Confident, enthusiastic, full of ideas. Francine was all those things. I mean I could tell she was shallow, which also fits with this personality, but she was kinda pursuing me and I just felt like sex. It had been a while and Francine seemed like a good time girl. I thought it would be uncomplicated. I was only after a one-night stand.’

‘So you had a few of those when you were in San Francisco – one night stands,' Gail asked, wondering why she was jealous but feeling that way none the less, even though she felt absolutely secure in her relationship with Holly. 

‘A few, yeah,’ Holly said, ‘you know that Gail. We’ve talked about it. You didn’t expect me to be a nun while we were apart.’ 

It was true.They had talked. Indeed Gail had come to the conclusion it was actually better Holly hadn’t had anything other than a few casual and not at all serious relationships and the occasional one night stand because otherwise, she may not have been open, or, in fact, available for anything with Gail. Holly had laughed at that. ‘You have no idea, do you,’ she’d said when Gail mentioned it. There was disbelief in her voice but also a hint of wonder. ‘It was only ever going to be you.’ God if only Gail had been aware of that. She could have saved Holly from the disaster of Francine.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Gail said now, ‘I just wish one of those one night stands hadn’t been Francine.’

‘You and me both,’ Holly winced.

'So what do we do now? I'm guessing this personality disorder isn't a new thing for Francine. So other people may be willing to come forward and make a complaint about her behavior.’

‘Or perhaps they already have. Francine frequently changes jobs. My guess is she’s running from those complaints.’

'Is stalking typical of people with this disorder.’

‘Not necessarily, ‘ Holly mused.

‘But it kind of fits. The more you reject her, the more fixated she becomes and maybe that’s because you’re not giving her the attention she craves.’

‘Could be,’ Holly agreed.

‘So this is only going to escalate. Holly, I know you don’t want to hear this, but you should charge Francine.’

‘Can we just wait until we track down other complaints. Alannah said she’d ask around at the hospital - discretely of course. Apparently Francine treads a fine line between friendly and flirty with colleagues and patients. If we get enough evidence of misconduct we could approach the hospital to take disciplinary action.’

Gail frowned. Would disciplinary action put a stop to Francine’s obsession with Holly? It was unlikely. Before Gail could voice her doubts, one of the guys who worked behind the counter appeared with two brown paper bags.

'Here’s your order, Gail. I didn't know if you wanted to eat here or,’ he trailed off.

‘Um thanks, Brett,’ Gail said, taking the sandwiches. She was enough of a regular that the wait staff knew her by name, and had probably figured out Holly was her girlfriend, ‘but I should go find my colleague.’ She didn't immediately stand, but waited until Brett left before turning back to Holly. ‘John Brierly,’ she said, speaking quietly so any nosey diners like the woman at the neighboring table couldn't eavesdrop.

‘Yes,’ Holly said, looking unfazed at the sudden change in topic. 

'I know you like the idea of the guillotine but could Brierly have been decapitated by a Samurai sword.’

‘It's possible,’ Holly said slowly, clearly considering the option, ‘I only liked the idea of him being guillotined because it seemed a fitting end for someone who experimented on animals, given that's how labs often dispose of mice once they’ve finished with them.’

‘Jeez Holly, you’re as macabre as me,’ Gail grinned wickedly.

'Must have been hanging around you too long,’ Holly smiled teasingly and then turned serious, ‘why a Samurai sword?’

‘The ex Mrs Gimlet has two hanging on a wall in her house. Apparently, Frank Gimlet brought them back from a trip to Japan.’

‘Does that put her in the frame?’

‘We can’t rule her out, but Gimlet still has access to the house so it could just as easily be him.’

‘I can check it out,’ Holly said, ‘but I’d guess if the blade was sharp enough it would make a clean cut.’

Gail stood. ‘I better go find Frankie.’

‘You don’t think she and Alannah are making up. They’ve been gone long enough.’

‘We can only hope. Frankie’s doing that –,’she paused and flapped her hands about, looking for the right description.

‘Cat up a tree thing,’ Holly interjected.

‘Yeah, I guess and so far I haven't been able to talk her down.’

‘Maybe Alannah will have better luck. I mean, look at you and me. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t I the first one to talk you out of the tree.’

‘Yeah, well I had no choice. You wouldn’t stop talking Stewart,’ Gail kidded, ‘I had to do something to stop the verbal diarrhea.’ 

‘Okay, shouldn’t you be off saving the city. Go and do some work, detective,’ Holly said, arching an eyebrow and pretending to be miffed as Gail leaned down to give her a quick kiss. ‘And honey,’ she added as Gail straightened up, her tone now one of concern, ‘stay safe.’

‘Always,’ Gail grinned impishly.

Once outside, Gail looked left and then right in search of Frankie. Then she peered across the street to where she’d parked the car. Oh just great, Frankie and Alannah were in the front kissing. Now she’d have to go break it up, which would be awkward and put Frankie in a bad mood. But it was great, actually, she realized, because it must mean the two women were sorting things out. Either that or they couldn't keep their hands off each other. 

Before she had a chance to move, Gail heard an ‘excuse me’ from behind her. Turning, she found the dark haired woman from inside who had taken such a keen interest in she and Holly.

‘Uh, yeah,’ Gail said uncertainly.

‘Is that Holly Stewart you were talking to inside just then,’ the woman asked.

‘Um, why’d you want to know?’’

‘I'm a resident at the hospital. I work with Francine Hart. According to her, Holly is her girlfriend. So either Holly’s cheating or Francine’s delusional.’

The way she phrased the question it was more like she doubted Francine. Gail regarded the woman for a moment. She seemed okay. Still, the chances, in a city the size of Toronto, of sitting next to someone in a café who worked with Francine were surely remote. Admittedly, the hospital was only a block away and Gail was aware hospital staff often ate at the café. Electing to trust her gut feeling, Gail said, ‘Definitely delusional. Holly is my girlfriend. We live together.’

'I figured, you know, that it was you two who were together. That didn't look like cheating back there,’ she indicated the café with her thumb.

‘How did you know who Holly is?’

‘Francine has photos of her plastered all over Facebook and stuck up at work. She said she and Holly moved to Toronto when Holly got a job with the Department of Forensics.’

‘Actually, Holly and I were together before Holly moved back. Listen, I'm a police detective,’ Gail pulled out her badge and showed it to the woman, ‘Francine has been – ‘ She stopped. This was tricky. She needed to be careful about how she worded this. Francine was part of an active investigation but it was Gail’s conduct, not her’s which was under the microscope. Gail was certain Elaine had instructed Fiona Vincent to dig up any dirt on Francine, but until Holly filed a formal complaint she wasn't the one under investigation.

‘Harassing you,’ the woman suggested when Gail’s pause stretched for too long.

'Yeah,' Gail grimaced, 'um would you be willing to talk to some of my colleagues about this, sorry I don't know your name.’

‘Gemma Lister. Give me your phone. I'll add my number.’ 

As Gail handed over her cell, it struck her how to an observer this would look like a classic pick up. It certainly had an element of that, which may have had something to do with the way Gemma had checked her out in the café.

Gemma clearly sensed the vibe. ‘So if things don't work out with you and Holly,’ she trailed off as she returned Gail’s phone.

‘Not a chance,’ Gail smiled softly.

‘I thought as much,’ Gemma sighed, ‘it’s pretty obvious you guys are head over heels.’

'Hey, have there been any issues with Francine at work?' Gail said, deciding it best to steer the conversation in a different direction. Not that the question wasn't real. Gail was extremely curious to hear what Gemma had to say. 

‘You bet. Don't get me wrong. She has her fans. They’re usually the ones she outrageously flirts with, but let me tell you that behavior rubs the rest of us up the wrong way. She always big notes herself. She’s the best surgeon, has the best manner with patients, is the most liked, most innovative. The list goes on. Some people, staff and patients, fall for it but there have been cases were she’s overstepped.’

‘How do you mean?’

'Francine’s convinced patients to undertake dangerous and possibly unnecessary procedures, but she comes on so strong and they are so blinded by her personality they agree.’

‘Have any of those surgeries gone wrong?’

‘A few, I believe, including some fatalities. I mean this is just stuff I'm hearing from other residents.’

‘Would any of them be willing to come forward and speak about it?’

‘I reckon quite a few,’ Gemma nodded.

‘Okay, here’s my card. Maybe don't mention this at work just yet. Obviously, this isn't something I can investigate and I'm not sure how my colleagues will want to proceed.’

‘Sure,’ Gemma said, looking at the card.’Detective Gail Peck,’ she read, ‘it was a pleasure meeting you.’

'Um, yeah, yeah,' Gail responded awkwardly. Jeez, what was wrong with her. It seemed like the only person she knew how to flirt with these days was Holly. Anyone else made her feel uncomfortable. Gemma seemed to take pity on her, giving her a small smile and a nod, before sauntering off.

Alannah was getting out of the car when Gail crossed the street. Her lips were slightly swollen from kissing and Gail guessed Frankie’s look the same.

‘Ah Gail,’ Alannah said, somewhat flustered, the color in her cheeks high, ‘you got lunch. Good. See you soon.’ Then she headed back in the direction of the café.

'All sorted?' Gail asked, opening the passenger door. She was rewarded with a scowl. ‘Shift over. I need you to drive, Anderson,’ Gail added without explanation.

‘So, why am I driving?’ Frankie asked as she nosed the car into the traffic.

'I'll tell you in a minute,’ Gail said, not looking up from scrolling through her phone, ‘but first, what's going on with you and Alannah.’

‘We’re having dinner tonight. We’re going to talk,’ Frankie said, her voice expressionless, clearly not wanting to reveal much but the lack of bite in her tone was a giveaway. When Gail glanced up she saw Frankie looked the most cheerful she had in days. No longer glowering but actually quite optimistic.

‘So it seems you didn't do much talking just now,’ Gail raised an eyebrow and looked directly at Frankie, who actually reddened. Super cool, love ‘em and leave ‘em Frankie actually blushed. 

‘Don't know what you’re talking about.’

‘Really. You want me to describe exactly what I just witnessed. You know I have excellent recall, Anderson.’

‘I didn't figure you for a perv Peck,’

‘Bit hard to miss what was going on when you were sucking face so enthusiastically.’

‘Sucking face. When did you become so crude? I thought being with Holly might have made you a little more refined,’ Frankie said.

‘You forget I still have to hang around you all day,’ Gail sassed. ‘But no denying it now. Frankie, you’re smitten,’ she said before returning to the phone.

‘Whatever Peck. What’s got you so fascinated with your phone? Holly messaging love hearts or something.’

‘Aha! Here it is. Gemma was telling the truth. Francine Hart has a Facebook page filled with photos of Holly. God, she’s so attention seeking she doesn't even block strangers from looking at her account.’

‘Okay, backup Gail. What are you talking about and who is Gemma?’

So Gail filled Frankie in on her conversation with Gemma, as well as Alannah’s theory about Francine having histrionic personality disorder.

‘Francine has posted photos taken at Lisa’s birthday, and one that must be from the night she had dinner at Rachel’s when she tried to kiss Holly in the kitchen,’ Gail said as she continued scrolling. ‘Oh fuck, there’s even some of Holly outside our house. They must have been taken with a long distance lens. Jesus, listen to this post. “I have the most awesome girlfriend in the world – love you Holly Stewart” and “Holly has taught me the true meaning of love. For that, I am eternally grateful”.’

‘What the fuck? Why hasn't Lisa said anything? She must be friends with Francine on Facebook.’ 

‘Nah, she doesn’t have an account. Claims Facebook is passé. I suspect she’s too busy to use it, plus she’s been extra cautious since that guy stalked her.’

'Okay, you have to tell Fiona Vincent. This a serious obsession.’

‘And I need to break the news to Holly.’

‘Do it in person but call Fiona Vincent now,’ Frankie said kindly, no trace in her voice of the bite of a moment before. 

Fiona Vincent didn't pick up so Gail left a message. When they reached the station, Chloe was practically bouncing up and down like an over eager puppy. Given the events of the past hour, Gail wasn't sure she had the patience for Chloe’s excitability.

‘What is it muppet?’ Frankie asked, amused rather than irritated by Chloe’s irrepressibility. Ever since Frankie and Chloe had become friends, the word muppet had entered the slightly weird bantering vernacular the two shared. 

‘You’ll never guess who did fencing lessons,’ Chloe gushed.

‘Donald Trump,’ Gail offered.

‘Ha ha. Very funny Gail. Frank Gimlet. He almost made it to the 1992 Olympic games. Apparently just missed out being picked for the Canadian team.’

‘Really,’ Frankie said, ‘would a fencer have the skills to behead someone?’

‘It's not exactly what they teach in fencing school,’ Gail said drily.

‘And you’re what, an expert?’ Dov said.

‘Um, I may have had some lessons,’ Gail mumbled, painfully aware she had just flushed red.

‘Really,’ Frankie chuckled, ‘you got dressed up in a white suit and said en garde.’

‘It was Elaine’s idea. I didn't last long, ’ Gail twisted her mouth, partly at the memory, partly in embarrassment at having to reveal this part of her past. ‘But you use finer rapier swords and the swordplay or fight is quite controlled and precise. You know parrying and ripostes, that sort of thing.’

‘But Gimlet would be comfortable with a sword,’ Frankie said.

‘I guess. His interest in fencing may be the reason he bought the Samurai swords. Chloe, does he still fence?’

‘It appears he gave it up after failing to get into the Olympics. Not long after he married the first Mrs Gimlet and set up EquanimityPlus.’

'So no time to lunge or feint,' Dov said, looking smug because he knew some fencing terms.

'I have a feeling that's all he knows what to do,’ Gail said, recalling that on every single occasion she and Frankie had spoken to Gimlet he’d been combative. In fact, with each meeting, Gail became more and more convinced he was hiding something.

Before they could discuss Gimlet and fencing any further, Oliver appeared, not looking quite as genial as usual. ‘I hear you’re looking for a suspect who might be living in Victoria Park?’ The way he said it, Gail got the impression a visit to the park was not a easy thing.

‘Not necessarily a suspect,’ she said, ‘but definitely someone who can help us with this case.’

‘Hmm,’ Oliver considered for a moment, ’the thing is ever since the bungled raid the relationship between us and the squatters is volatile. They can sniff out a cop a mile away. If you went in there unannounced, all hell could break lose again.’

‘That’s,’ Frankie paused, ’crazy. If someone’s broken the law the police have a right to go after them. There can't be no go zones. These squatters aren't above the law.’

'Of course not,’ Oliver said, not at all fazed by Frankie’s belligerent tone, ‘but to avoid a situation we need to tread carefully. I've been liaising with two of the squatters – Josh Parsons and Louisa Johnson - the camp is supposedly non-hierarchical but the two of them are the unofficial leaders. They will cooperate with the police as long as we speak to them first. Explain what we want.’

‘Fair enough,’ Gail said, ‘so when can we meet with them.’

‘I’ll try and set up something for this afternoon.’

After Oliver left, Gail went outside and tried to call Holly. She was hoping she might be able to duck out to tell her about Francine’s Facebook posts. When she didn't pick up, Gail put a call through to Holly’s assistant Sally.

‘Oh, Dr Stewart has just gone into a meeting,’ Sally said, ‘she’ll probably be tied up for the next hour. Can I take a message, dear?’

‘No,’ Gail said, ‘actually yes. Can you tell Holly I’ll come collect her after work.’ Frankie was right. She should talk to Holly about the Facebook posts in person, and it was probably best if she waited until they were home.

Shortly after, Oliver reappeared with news that Josh and Louisa would meet them in a café close to Victoria Park. Frankie decided she and Gail should accompany Oliver, leaving Dov to keep trawling through Brierly’s online life. She pulled Chloe aside as they were leaving. 

‘Can you just check Francine Hart’s employment record. See if any complaints have been lodged against her and why she changes jobs so often. On the quiet.’

Chloe nodded. ‘Does Gail know you’re asking me to do this?’

‘No,’ Frankie shook her head, ‘let’s see what you can dig up before we say anything. And hey thanks, Chloe.’

‘Anything to help Gail and Holly.’

Gail was just coming out of the locker room when she overheard the exchange. She knew she wasn't supposed to have been privy to the conversation, but it made her feel supported and yes cared about like she meant something to Chloe and Frankie. Of course, they’d like Holly, because duh who wouldn’t, Gail reasoned, but to know she counted, well it meant something. Not that she’d be telling Frankie or Chloe that anytime soon.

The neighborhood surrounding Victoria Park was fairly well-heeled, home to young families and professionals, the streets lined with big old oak trees which in the warmer months when the leaves were out, lent them a grandeur. While for the most part people tolerated the camp, there was disquiet among some residents about a motley crew of homeless people literally squatting in their backyard, and some outrage the police hadn't moved them on.

But where were they to go, Gail wondered. Emergency accommodation was stretched to the limit, wait lists for public housing were groaning and most of the people in the camp didn't have the means to rent a place privately. After initially trying to shut down the camp, the authorities had tacitly agreed to turn a blind-eye as long as no one from the camp caused trouble.

Josh was a bear of a man. Grey hair tied back in a ponytail and a grizzled beard. He clasped Oliver’s hand in a firm grip, smiling broadly. ‘Sergeant Shaw. Oliver,’ he said.

Where Josh was large, Louise was petite. Frizzy hair in two braids piled on top of her head, her features were delicate, her mouth shaped like a bow. She was probably ten years Josh’s junior, but together they radiated a calm and centeredness, a kind of easy assurance as if nothing would surprise or disconcert them. Ex-hippies, Gail guessed, or perhaps not so ex. Holly’s parents would doubtless be quite comfortable talking to them. Becca and Kurt. Gail had promised to keep them in the loop as far as Francine was concerned. She should tell them about the latest developments, though of course, she needed to talk to Holly first.

‘He’s a suspect?’ Josh asked after carefully examining the photograph of Damien Gimlet. The five of them were seated at a wide wooden table.

‘Possibly,’ Frankie hedged, and then trotted out the standard line, ‘we believe he can help us with our inquiry.’

Josh looked at her impassively. Okay, so less laid back than he first appeared, Gail decided.

‘I'm actually concerned he knows something which may put him in danger, possibly even of being killed,’ Gail said, aware she was going out on a limb. Frankie shot her a reproving look. If Oliver was surprised by her revelation, he didn't show it. Gail knew it was risky, but they had to do something to make these people trust them. Anyway, it was what she believed. Damien Gimlet wasn't the killer but she was damm sure he knew who was.

Josh regarded Gail for a moment and then looked across at Louisa, who inclined her head as if agreeing to something.

‘It's a murder investigation?’ Josh asked. 

Gail nodded. ‘It’s possible he knows the killer’s identity, and the killer is aware of that. I think Damien, or Dominic as you know him, may need protection.’

‘Dominic hasn't been around the camp for weeks.’ It was Louisa who spoke. ‘He disappeared right after that animal rights protest he organized. I guessed he needed to lie low. Maybe was feeling the heat a bit.’

‘So you haven't seen him since?’ Oliver asked.

‘Actually, he turned up just before Christmas,’ Josh admitted, ‘just for a few nights. I saw him briefly. I didn't mention it to Louisa. Dominic didn't say where he'd been. He seemed a bit spooked. I even asked if he was in some sort of trouble but he just laughed and told me to chill and stop trying to solve the world’s problems.’

‘Any idea where he may have gone?’ Oliver asked. Both Louisa and Josh shook their heads.

‘Will you contact us if he comes back to the camp?’ Gail asked.

‘I'm guessing you don't want us to tell him the police are after him.’

‘Not if you want to keep him safe,’ Gail said, ‘he’s likely to run if he knows we want to speak to him.’

On the way back to the car, they passed a jewelry shop already advertising Valentine’s Day.

‘Jeez, Christmas is barely over and already they’re trying to get us to buy presents for Valentines,’ Gail grumbled.

‘Not a fan of the day?’ Oliver asked.

‘It’s just commercial bullshit,’ Gail shook her head.

‘Ever petulant Detective Peck,’ Oliver smiled secretively like he knew Gail wasn't really that cynical.

Once in the car, Frankie sighed elaborately. ‘I think you overstepped back there, detective,’ she said to Gail.

‘It got Louise and Josh to cooperate,’ Gail shrugged, ‘and I’m convinced Damien is on the run from the killer.’

‘Except he was in Toronto around Christmas. That puts him in the right place at the right time to decapitate Brierly.’

'How do we know Damien hasn't been in Toronto this whole time. It still doesn't make him a murderer,’ Gail said. Just then her phone pinged with a message from Holly saying she’d be working late and could Gail collect her at 7 pm.

......................................................................

It was 5 pm by the time Frankie, Oliver and Gail returned to the station. Frankie decided to call it a night,

‘We can't do anything more today,’ she told the team, ‘get a good night’s sleep. Let's look at this with fresh eyes in the morning.’

Holly wouldn't be ready for another two hours. Despite feeling fatigued, Gail decided to go swimming. There was too much going on in her head and the steady repetition of laps might help sort those thoughts into some kind of order, or at least help her figure how to get Francine out of their lives. 

It seemed like they were always reacting to Francine, never on the front foot. Gail hadn't admitted it to Frankie, but Francine’s Facebook posts had spiked her anxiety. It literally felt like a band of fear, like a cold, hard metal belt was being tightened around her. She knew she was on edge, trying to suppress the memories, that had inevitably surfaced, of Perick’s basement. Trying to stay strong for Holly, because keeping Holly safe was the priority. 

Then there was Brierly’s case. It was hard going too. A slow chipping away that had left Gail convinced finding Damien Gimlet was a matter of urgency. She wasn't certain Frankie shared this view. ‘Even if Gimlet is the murderer, would he kill his own son?’ Frankie had asked, the skepticism plain in her voice.

Just as she finished her final lap, Gail noticed someone standing at the end of the lane. Thinking they wanted to ask if they could share her lane, Gail looked up but it wasn’t a lap swimmer. No, this person was fully dressed. She stood with feet planted firmly apart, hands clenched in tight fists at her side and a look of madness in her eyes. Gail knew that look. Perick had worn it. 

Without thinking, Gail hauled herself out of the pool so she was standing so close she was dripping water on Francine. It gave Gail a small sense of satisfaction. Petty, she knew, but then being dressed only in a pair of swimmers put her at a distinct disadvantage for a confrontation with Francine.

‘Francine,’ Gail said icily.

‘Stay way from her. You hear. Stay away from Holly.’ Francine’s voice started to rise, so much so other people at the facility turned their heads. Gail wished she'd gone to the Police Academy pool, but then this one was closer to the morgue.

'Bit hard when Holly is my girlfriend and lives with me,’ Gail said quietly, coolly, not wanting to unnecessarily incite Francine.

‘Holly doesn't know what's good for her.’

‘And you do,’ Gail took a step toward Francine so there was practically no distance between them. It was intended to intimidate. It probably wasn't the best idea, but the way Francine spoke – smug and possessive – chilled Gail. There was a menace behind the words and Gail found she could no longer pretend to be unaffected. When Francine claimed she knew what was best for Holly, Gail had a flash of Perick tending her head wound in the basement, careful and solicitous, all the while fantasizing about the depravities he would subject her to. 

‘You stupid, ignorant bitch,’ Francine grabbed Gail’s upper arms and gripped hard, ‘stay away if you know what's good for you.’ She was practically shouting now.

It didn't take much for Gail to get out of Francine’s hold. She was a police officer after all. She was tempted to spin Francine around and pin her hands behind her back, but was acutely conscious of how many people had gathered to witness this exchange. Given Francine had already accused her of intimidation and given Fiona Vincent’s investigation into that complaint, restraining Francine may not play out well.

‘Are you threatening a police officer?’ Gail said, taking a step back.

Before Francine could answer, a pool attendant stepped forward. ‘Is everything alright here?’ he asked.

It was on the tip of Gail's tongue to say 'gravy' but she checked herself. However, in the time it took for her to turn to the attendant, Francine had made a run for the exit.

'Domestic altercation?’ a guy in too tight speedos asked.

Gail sighed. Once dressed and in the parking lot, Gail put a call through to Fiona Vincent.

'Francine Hart just approached me and told me to stay away from Holly.'

‘Where were you?’’

‘The swimming pool. She was waiting for me at the end of my lane. She must have followed me.’

Fiona swore. ‘This is spiraling. Any witnesses?’

‘A pool attendant and a couple of other people at the facility. Problem is, most of them were under the impression it was a domestic dispute.’

‘Gail, I have to ask this, you know I do. Is there any chance Holly gave Francine any encouragement? Maybe they started seeing each other on the quiet after Francine moved to Toronto.'

Gail laughed derisively. ‘Not a chance. Ask Holly. She’ll say the same thing.’

‘I will have to ask her,’ Fiona said apologetically.

‘Fiona, you’ve met Holly. She’s not a cheater. You can check with Lisa. I guarantee she’ll back that up.’ 

'Okay,’ Fiona sighed, ‘Did Francine threaten you?'

‘She came close but she’s too clever for that.’

‘Gail, you need to convince Holly to press charges. It's the only way to contain this. Do you think now that Francine’s approached you, Holly will take action.’

‘Maybe, but there is also something else.’ Then Gail explained about Francine’s Facebook.

‘Okay. This is enough to get a restraining order. Can you and Holly meet me at the station at 8 am tomorrow? To formally press charges. And If you can't change her mind about pressing charges, then I will.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail said doubtfully, wondering why Fiona thought she might have more sway over Holly, ‘Holly believes Francine has a mental illness and we should be getting her help.’

‘Yeah, well I've uncovered some information I believe will make Holly think very differently about Dr Hart.’

‘Misconduct.’

‘You know I can't give you details, Gail. At least not until I've spoken to Holly, but yeah, there have been complaints.’

As Gail went to hang up, Fiona spoke again, ‘And Gail, don't do anything stupid.’

‘Jesus, you’re worried about me being out of control,’ Gail snapped, ‘Fiona, I’m not the crazy one here.’

…………………………………………………

 

Holly had a Samurai sword raised high above her head and she brought it down swiftly and with great force upon the neck of the body laid on the slab before her. The head rolled off to the side, and Natasha caught it before it fell onto the floor.

‘Jesus,’ Gail said. She was standing at the door to the lab, and for a moment in her state of, well, hyper-vigilance, she guessed that's how you might describe in, but anyway just for a second she thought she was hallucinating. It was a fearsome image, the sight of Holly brandishing the sword. Kind of bad-ass too, like Holly was a warrior from an ancient army.

‘Oh, hi honey,’ Holly smiled, ‘is it 7 already?’

‘Um, Holly,’ Gail said, not moving from the doorway, ‘what are you doing.’

‘Testing your theory about the Samurai sword.’

‘Is it okay to use a corpse to do that?’

‘Buddy here was donated to the Med School for students to practice on. I've got a contact there, a professor who owes me a favor after I gave those lectures on forensics. Anyway, he agreed to let me behead buddy. We need to return him by morning. Some budding surgeons are going to be cutting into him tomorrow.’

‘Okay,’ Gail advanced into the room and gave a nod in Natasha’s direction. ‘What do you think?’

‘Nice, clean cut,’ Holly said, ‘we’ll measure and photograph it, but take a look at the neck. It looks a lot like the severing around John Brierly’s neck. The sharpness of the blade will have an impact, and we’ll do a proper comparison tomorrow, but I'm almost ready to put money on a Samurai sword as the murder weapon.’

‘Really,’ Gail said. At last, something of a breakthrough.

‘Don’t get too excited yet, detective. We still need to make that comparison,’ Holly said as she pulled off her gloves. ‘Dr LaPaige, do you mind finishing up here.’

‘No problem,’ Natasha said, ‘you guys have a good night.’

'Where did you get a Samurai sword anyway?' Gail asked as she and Holly walked out of the lab.

‘One of the technicians is a martial arts fanatic. We borrowed it from him.’

‘How very weird. I'm not sure I'd want to have something lying around my house that had sliced off a dead man’s head.’

‘The technician works in a morgue. He’s surrounded by dead bodies. I somehow don't think that bothered him.’

‘Oh yes, I see what you mean,’ Gail took Holly’s hand, but as she did so she had the distinct feeling they were being watched. She turned her head quickly to look behind her, and then to either side, but there was no one there. If she and Holly were in one of those horror movies, they’d be filmed from behind, the privileging of the observer’s perspective robbing them of agency and making them seem vulnerable, the camera angle creeping and full of foreboding, the music haunting.

‘Everything all right?’ Holly asked.

‘Yeah,’ Gail smiled weakly. She decided to wait until they were home before talking to Holly about Francine.

....................................

Once at the house, Holly announced she needed to shower. ‘Wash the morgue off,’ she said.

‘And I thought that was just you,’ Gail teased, ‘I’ll get dinner started.’

She was pulling things out of the refrigerator when there was a knock on the door. Drawing her gun, Gail looked through the peephole. Lisa.

‘I've got wine and beer for,’ Lisa started to say.

‘Beer for the blue-collar girlfriend,’ Gail interrupted

‘Very funny,‘ Lisa said, clearly noticing but not saying anything about the gun Gail had hastily tucked back into the waistband of her jeans. ‘I thought you and Holly might need a drink. Fiona called me. To confirm what you said about Holly’s fidelity. Which I told her was unshakable when it comes to you. Anyway, Fiona mentioned Francine threatened you.’

‘Francine threatened you,’ came Holly’s voice from the stairs. It was incredulous and outraged and hard. ‘Why didn't you tell me, Gail?’

‘I was going to. Over dinner,’ Gail said, stuttering a little and biting her lip. Not sure how it was that she was in trouble for this.

‘We need to go to the station now. I want to press charges.’

‘Okay hang on. Firstly, Fiona wants us to meet her at 8 am tomorrow with a view to pressing charges, and secondly, why did it take me being threatened for you to take action?’ 

‘Because,’ Holly tilted her head to one side and smiled softly, ‘because it's you, Gail.’ Her voice was gentle and it made Gail realize Holly’s outburst of just before had been directed squarely at Francine and not her.

'You don't think I feel the same way about you?’ Gail asked.

‘We all need a drink,'Lisa said decisively.

'Yeah, there are a couple of other things I need to tell you about Francine, Gail said. 

By the end of the evening, Holly was on her way to being quite drunk. Lisa kept topping up her glass. Gail stuck to two beers, deciding someone needed to be sober.

'I dodged a bullet,’ Lisa said, ‘I mean I actually considered sleeping with Francine.’

‘Oh god,’ Holly said, ‘sex with her was awful. It was like a bad porno. She kept saying things like give it to me baby, fuck me hard, I want to feel you fill me up baby, and let me spread my juices all over you.’

Lisa started to laugh so hard she nearly fell off her chair, and Gail blocked her ears and started saying ‘la la la, I’m not listening. I don’t want to know,’ and before long Holly had joined Lisa in a fit of giggles.

‘Seriously?’ Gail said, taking her hands off her ears.

‘Yep,’ Holly popped the ‘p’. Then she turned more serious. ‘Of course, I know there are female stalkers, but whenever I picture a stalker, I think of men.’

‘By far, more are men,’ Gail said.

‘Mine was male,’ Lisa said, ‘hey Holly, you and me, we’re in the stalkee’s club. Sorr Gail, you don't make it.’

‘Yeah, I just got kidnapped,’ Gail said drily.

‘Oh shit,’ Lisa said, frowning at her faux par but too drunk to know what to say. Holly had told her a little about Perick. Gail knew that. In fact, back when Holly and Lisa were living at Rachel’s place, had asked Holly to explain to the two other women why she was weird around things like taxis and sometimes had violent nightmares that woke them all.

‘Well, here’s to being a woman,’ Lisa finally said sardonically, raising her wine glass, ‘because it doesn't suck at all.’

‘I’ll drink to that. I'm glad I’m female, otherwise I don't think Holly would sleep with me,’ Gail said with a playful smile. Her intention was to change the mood and it worked because the other two laughed.

'Jeez, Peck, why is it you have to always remind me you have sex with Holly? If I’m not walking in on you, you’re talking about it,‘ Lisa grumbled, but her tone was good-natured. ‘Hey, you know how Francine is tied up with your decapitation case. You don't think she could have orchestrated it all to get Holly’s attention?’

‘Nah, too far-fetched, even for her,‘ Gail shook her head.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The call came just after 5 am. Both their phones were going. Holly swore and pulled a pillow over her head. 

Gail picked up. ‘Peck,’ she whispered into the phone.

‘Hey, it's Frankie. We’ve got another head. It was found near Lake Shore Park by some guys from a rowing club. We need you and Holly.’

'Sure it's not a fake one again?’

‘No definitely real,’ Frankie said.

It was a twenty minute trip to the lake. Holly kicked into gear with remarkable alacrity, taking the glass of water and painkillers Gail proffered, and following that with a strong cup of coffee. Still, she looked at little bleary-eyed.

‘You okay for this?’ Gail asked, ‘I'm sure one of your colleagues could come out to the scene.’

‘No. I'm on this case. I know what to look for,’ Holly reassured her.

 

Gail decided to take a short-cut, a narrow and slightly winding road that ran along the shoreline and which not many people knew about. At this hour, there was no traffic on the road. At least not until they reached a section full of twists and turns. Seemingly out of nowhere, a car roared up behind them, screeching on the brakes and then revving loudly. 

‘Fuck,' Gail exclaimed, ‘I have a good mind to stop and book that driver.’

‘Just slow down and let them pass,’ Holly said. 

Gail scowled but did as Holly suggested, slowing right down, but still, the car didn't pass. As they approached a sharp bend in the road, they heard the car rev again. Louder this time, followed by a boom and a crunch as it rammed into the back of Gail's car. The car lurched forward and with it Gail and Holly. Their bodies jolting forward and then back like those crash dummies in a simulated accident. Even though she was wearing a seatbelt, Holly’s head cracked against the windscreen and she slumped over. Gail couldn't tell if she was dazed or unconscious, and in any case was too preoccupied with regaining control of the vehicle to check. Just as she righted the car, the other driver once again rammed into the back of it, the force of the impact sending the car through the barrier alongside the road and then up over the small stretch of grassland abutting the lake.

In the instant it took for the car to hit the water, time seemed to stop. It occurred to Gail that this was not how she had imagined dying. Nor had she thought she would die with Holly by her side. Gail had always allowed that she might be killed in the line of duty, leaving Holly behind. She’d tried to talk to Holly about it once, to say if that happened she hoped Holly would move on, find someone new. Holly had shaken her head vigorously and put her hand on Gail’s mouth to stop her talking. She looked so stricken, Gail had kissed her and they never spoke of it again. Now Gail knew why Holly was so upset. She wanted more, of course, she did, just like Gail did now. More time together. In fact, Gail wanted a lifetime and all it might bring. Maybe kids and old age, growing crotchety together but still in love. Always in love. Why was this too much to ask?

……………………………………………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I sent Gail and Holly to a watery grave? Would I do that to Gail and Holly? Would I do that to you dear readers? That said, this fic is 41 chapters long and does have to end sometime, and the readership is dropping off, although I am always so grateful to those of you sticking with it and leaving comments. However, unlike ChapStickLez, I haven't promised to keep writing even if there is only one reader. But really, do you think I would be that evil? There is a clue in this story, but I'll say no more….
> 
> Thanks to Snarcasm318 for suggesting Francine’s personality disorder and for being a fabulous sounding board!


	42. Forty-two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters…
> 
> Thank you, thank you for all your comments, and kudos, and for reading of course, and to everyone who subscribes and bookmarks. I've written more of a note at the end of the chapter, so check that out. A huge thanks to Snarcasm318 for so generously letting me sound out some ideas with her, and for some great advice.
> 
> Apologies for mistakes. Hope you enjoy!

……………………

As the car hit the water, the Peck training kicked in. Gail braced for the impact, both hands on either side of the steering wheel just as she’d been taught. She could do nothing for Holly except ensure she herself survived so she could get Holly out.

The airbags deployed on impact. Literally in a microsecond. Gail felt herself bouncing forward to hit the nylon balloon, aware Holly was doing the same, except she was still unconscious and her body flopped forward limply like a rag doll. Holly’s relaxed state might, at least, save her from further injury, Gail hoped. Almost immediately the bags began to deflate, weirdly at the same rate, or so it seemed to Gail, with which the car was subsiding.

Gail clicked open her seatbelt and pressed the button to unwind her window. Some remote part of her brain was thanking Elaine for drilling her on what to do if your car went into water. She was probably seven and couldn't figure out why this should concern her. Didn't adults drive cars? Wasn't it their job to take control in a situation like that?

‘Pecks must always be prepared,’ Elaine had admonished, her brow furrowing sternly, ‘always ready to serve, any time, anywhere. So?’ She arched an eyebrow, waiting and, when Gail didn't respond but instead looked at her truculently, sighed heavily. ‘The drill Gail, from the top. What’s the drill?’

Gail had recited it like a mantra. ‘Seatbelt, windows, children, out.’ Other kids learned nursery rhymes – she memorized survival manuals.

‘Ten per cent of drowning deaths in Canada occur in submerged cars. Don't you forget that,’ Elaine held up a warning finger

The front of the car was sinking fastest, the weight of the engine pulling it down. Already the cabin was starting to fill with the icy lake water. The pressure of the water outside the car made opening the door impossible. Even if Gail could somehow wedge it open even a crack, it would let in a rush of water that could sink the car in ten seconds.

It was a relatively warm day for this time of year, but still it had dropped to zero overnight, and as the water began to rise, reaching her knees, Gail became truly aware of how freezing it was. The cold brought Holly too, her eyes fluttering open and then wavering as if it were an enormous effort to remain conscious. She’d lost her glasses in the crash. It made her face appear more vulnerable, especially given the way she was blinking like a newborn puppy.

‘We’re getting out of here,’ Gail said determinedly, reaching across to unbuckle Holly’s seat belt only to find it was jammed. She repeatedly pushed the release button but without success.

The water was coming in faster now. It was up to Holly’s waist, and she no longer looked as if she were about to pass out, but instead was gasping from the rush of freezing water. It took one to two minutes for a car to sink. That's what Elaine had told Gail. It didn't take a genius to realize the odds of drowning increased exponentially once the car was fully submerged and the cabin inundated.

Gail looked around for something to use to cut the belt sash but of course there was nothing. She tried yanking hard on the sash but it was stuck fast, pulled taut in the crash, in fact so taut it was lashed tightly against Holly, making it impossible for her to move. At least it was holding her upright. The water was now up to their chests. By Gail’s reckoning they had less than a minute before the car sank completely.

‘I’m going to dive under the water and unbuckle your seatbelt. If the water reaches your chin, you need to take a really deep breath,‘ Gail said, ‘and then hold onto it as long as you can. Can you do that Holly?’

Holly shook her head weakly.

‘It's okay. You can do it,’ Gail urged.

‘No,’ Holly shook her head again, ‘you need to get out of here. Save yourself Gail.’

This time it was Gail who was shaking her head, but vigorously. ‘I'm not going anywhere without you.’

‘I love you Gail,’ Holly said, ‘being with you,’ she paused as if searching for the right words, but there wasn’t time, and when Holly spoke again it was urgent but emphatic. ‘I feel so blessed to have had what we have. I never dreamed I could love someone this much. But now,’ she looked beseechingly at Gail, ‘you need to go. Please. If you love me, go.’

………………..

‘Are you sure this is a shortcut?’ Dov grumbled as he rounded another bend in the narrow road.

‘Absolutely. Gail showed it to me when we were in uniform. We were called out to a break-in at the rowing club,‘ Chloe said brightly, ‘anyway, you know Gail, she’s memorised the quickest route to get anywhere in Toronto. Better than a GPS.’

‘Yeah, well I don't see Gail on this road now.’

‘What about those cars,’ Chloe said as they skirted yet another bend and two cars came into view about a kilometre ahead. ‘Oh shit. What about those cars!’ she exclaimed as the car at the rear rammed into the one in front, then reversed and surged forward again to hit the car with even greater force. The front car veered off the road, colliding with an embankment and becoming airborne. It hovered over a grassy strip before falling nose first into the lake.

‘Chloe call dispatch now,’ Dov said, pressing down on the accelerator, ‘we need backup and an ambulance.’

‘Its Gail’s car,’ Chloe said, her voice, which was normally so exuberant, small with fear.

………………..

Gail took a huge gulp of air, filling her lungs completely, and plunged under the water. It was murky, making it difficult, at first, to locate Holly’s seat belt buckle. When she found it, mainly by feel, Gail grasped both sides of the buckle, pulling it back and forward in the hope this would loosen the mechanism. She pressed the release button but nothing happened.

Gail’s lungs were starting to burn and she knew she couldn’t hold her breath for much longer. She tried pulling on the sash again but it wouldn't budge. Biting back tears of frustration, Gail pushed the release button over and over, the action frenzied and desperate.

It wasn't fair. This couldn't be happening. Not to Holly. There had to be some way of saving her. There had to be. The need for air became too great. Gail’s lungs felt like they were about to explode, making what started as a flutter of panic build until she could think only of blindly pushing up out of the water.

She gasped once she hit the surface. In the short time she had been under the water, the pocket of air in the cabin had shrunk dramatically. It was little wider than a foot. Even though Holly had urged Gail to go, to leave her behind in the car, some survival instinct made Holly tilt her head to keep breathing. Still, she was barely managing to keep her head upright and Gail sensed she was close to losing consciousness again.

‘Stay with me Holly,’ Gail implored.

Holly looked at her glassily but somehow managed to murmur, ‘I'm trying but I can't for much longer. Please go, Gail.’

Gail didn't respond. No use telling Holly there was no way in hell she was leaving her down here to die alone. Any moment the cabin would be completely flooded and then there was no hope for either of them. Taking another enormous breath, Gail went back into the water. After her initial reaction to the cold, Gail hadn't really noticed it again. Perhaps it was the adrenaline. Maybe her thermo receptors, the skin cells sensitive to temperature, had taken pity on her and had shut down. Holly would probably know. There was sure to be some science behind it. However, if her thermo receptors were being kind, they stopped as soon as Gail ducked under. She immediately had a kind of brain freeze, like she had eaten ice cream too rapidly, except far worse. The pain was so intense, for a moment she thought she might pass out.

There was a time when she might have given up in a situation like this, resigned to the notion she didn't deserve anything more but that was before Holly. That was before she knew how to love and be loved, hugely, selflessly and to Gail’s mind miraculously; before something very much like happiness, or perhaps it should be more rightly described as joy, had stealthily crept into her heart and settled there; before life had ceased being defined by struggle and become full of promise and hope.

Early on, not long after Holly had returned to Toronto, Gail told her therapist Holly made her a better person. Leslie had arched an eyebrow and inquired with deliberate casualness, ‘Holly? Or is that down to you? Gail, you work hard to take responsibility for the bad choices you’ve made, so why not own the good ones?’ Gail had twisted her mouth as she considered Leslie’s question, not quite ready to accept this reasoning. Sometimes, she truly believed she’d be nothing without Holly. That if Holly hadn't appeared, and then reappeared, she would eventually wind up that sad, sorry old woman, bitter at the opportunities she’d allowed pass by, had in fact rebuffed, and resenting other people’s contentment. Just one giant pity party really.

As she sat on Leslie’s comfortable couch - so comfortable she sometimes wanted to sink into it - in Leslie’s tastefully decorated office - the neutral tones clearly chosen to be soothing - Gail turned these thoughts over and came to a realisation at once startling and yet revelatory in that way that made her certain it was a truth. Holly did give her a reason to be a better person, but Leslie was right, ultimately it was she, Gail, who chose to be her best self. Still, it was Holly who had, in the first place, shown her it was possible, had made her want to be that person.

Even at the very beginning, when their relationship had barely taken off, was in fact about to stutter and flounder because self sabotage was what Gail did best, even then in the midst of that wreckage, Gail had had a glimpse of what could be. From the moment she shut Holly out, Gail had felt the loss of that possibility, had yearned and then grieved for it, even as she stubbornly refused to return Holly’s calls. Now as she felt around for the seat belt buckle, Gail knew they deserved more time. She and Holly. Their lives together had only just begun and Gail wasn't ready, wasn't prepared to give that up, to let it go. Not without a fight.

Ignoring the sharp ache in her head and summoning a strength she didn't know she possessed, Gail once more rocked the buckle back and forth but now with greater force, working frantically to loosen it. She pressed the button again. This time, incredibly, miraculously it did release the tongue of the belt. Gail pushed herself upright, desperate for air, wanting to take great lungs full of the stuff, but once she stood the water was nearly covering her mouth and there were mere inches of space between it and the cabin roof. She took a few short breaths and, still heaving, pulled the sash away from Holly’s body, catching her as fell forward. Holly’s eyes were fluttering and Gail grabbed her under her arms to hold her up.

‘I'm going to go out the window and pull you through after me. Just before I pull you out you need to take a huge breath and hold it.’

Holly nodded. It was then that Gail noticed the gash on Holly’s forehead. Bleeding steadily. Weirdly, it was in the exact same place as Gail’s scar from where Perick had slammed the door into her head. Gripping tightly under Holly’s arms, Gail hauled her across to the driver’s side of the car so they were both half standing on the seat. The problem was, Gail realized, Holly might not have the strength to stay upright on her own. In the time it took Gail to get free of the car and position herself to manoeuvre her out, Holly might have subsided into the water.

‘Hold on to the side of the window frame,’ Gail said, ‘as tight as you can.’ Holly did as instructed. Gail toed off her shoes, thankful she never really bothered with the laces, unclipped her gun and shrugged off her leather jacket. Another one of Elaine’s lessons – remove anything that would weigh you down. She didn’t ask Holly to do the same, deciding Holly needed to conserve her energy to get out of the car.

Gail kissed Holly on the cheek, just quickly. She took another deep breath and kicked off from the seat and through the window. At least, now the car was nearly submerged, the rush of water coming through the window had eased. Breaking the surface of the water, Gail took another deep breath and, turning quickly, dove back under. Reaching in through the car window, she again put her hands under Holly’s arms and guided her out and up. As they pulled free, the lake finally swallowed up the car, the only trace of it a whirlpool of bubbles on the surface of the water.

………………………………………………………..

When she took the call from Chloe, Frankie was standing next to the decapitated head. It had been placed in a plastic bag and dumped rather unceremoniously on the boat ramp belonging to the rowing club. Chris and Duncan, who had responded to the call out, looked up as Frankie swore loudly into the phone.

‘Fuck,’ she said, heedless of the rowing crew who were giving their statements, ‘I'm on my way.’ Frankie didn’t waste time once she disconnected, issuing rapid-fire instructions to the two officers. ‘Moore stay here. Diaz come with me. It's Gail and Holly.’

Chris didn't hesitate. As soon as Frankie said Gail and Holly he moved, following the detective to her car.

‘Is it Dr Hart?’ he asked as he slid into the passenger seat. Frankie was already putting the car into reverse.

‘Don't know. But Chloe said Gail’s car was rammed into the lake. She and Dov watched it happen. They’re approaching the scene now,’ Frankie said as she peeled out of the club parking lot, the car tires squealing as she accelerated.

‘What about Gail and Holly?’

‘As far as we know, they’re still in the car.’

Now it was Chris’s turn to swear.

‘If Francine Hart is behind this I'm going to shoot her skinny ass,’ Frankie said vehemently. 

……………………………….

Cold incapacitation occurred between five and fifteen minutes of entering freezing water. Gail couldn't remember who had told her that. It sounded like a Holly thing but maybe it was part of her mother’s sinking car drill. Already Gail’s body was startling to feel sluggish. Her blood vessels would have constricted, decreasing the flow of blood to her extremities in order to preserve heat in her core and so protect vital organs. It made sense – the body going into survival mode - but it didn't help right now if she couldn’t make it to shore because her hands and feet were too cold and her muscles refused to move. Holly must have told her that, for sure.

Once they had broken the surface of the water – a feat in itself and Gail was convinced it was sheer willpower as much as anything else that propelled them upwards - Gail looped her arms under Holly’s so Holly’s back rested against her chest. Then she placed one arm around Holly’s waist, and her other hand on Holly’s neck to keep her head upright while she towed them through the water. The position allowed Gail to kick with her legs. It was all just as Elaine had instructed, just as Gail had practiced so many times.

Holly seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness and Gail was relieved there were only about thirty metres between them and the shore, although in her weakened state every metre felt like a kilometre. Once she reached the shallows, Gail dragged Holly the remainder of the way, collapsing onto the little strip of sand at the shoreline.

Every muscle in Gail’s body ached. She’d swallowed a good deal of water and was starting to shiver uncontrollably. All she wanted to do was lie there until someone came to rescue them, but that sadly was not an option. For a start, she had to check on Holly. Hauling herself half upright, Gail knelt beside Holly, firstly checking to see if her airways were clear. Holly’s chest was rising and falling, although her breaths were shallow. Gail checked her pulse. It was faint. She urgently needed to get help but who would be out on this back road road at this hour?

A sound like shoes crunching on the gritty sand made Gail turn and look up. Maybe they were going to be rescued after all. Maybe it wasn't too much to hope. When Gail saw who it was, all she could think was God how stupid was she? She was so focused on freeing Holly and getting them to dry land, she’d forgotten about the car that forced them off the road and into the lake, or more to the point had forgotten to anticipate its occupant might hang around to finish what they started. Stupid, stupid, stupid, Gail admonished herself, realizing with a surprisingly sharp pang that Elaine would be extremely disappointed in her.

‘And I had so hoped I wouldn't have to use this again,’ Frank Gimlet said. He was holding one of the Samurai swords loosely by his side. It was still in its casing, so that was one small positive at least. In truth, Gail wasn't surprised to see him. After all she’d had a feeling something was off about him. Cruel and calculating and clearly quite capable of decapitation. What she hadn't expected was to see Patricia Gimlet standing just behind her ex-husband, a tire iron in her hand, her mouth drawn in a mean line.

‘I don't known Gimlet, seems to me you relish any excuse to use that,’ Gail couldn't help but taunt. ‘You'd already given Brierly enough heroin for him to OD, so what was the point of beheading him, except for your sick pleasure.’

If these were the last words she uttered, then Gail would go down swinging. She wasn’t being reckless. Plainly there was no hope of pacifying either of the Gimlets, of talking them down. Too late for that now. Gail saw it in their eyes, their expressions identical. Set with a determination both ruthless and amoral. They had come here to murder and nothing, no entreaty, no appeal to their better natures, no bargaining or clever words, would sway them from that purpose.

‘I'm going to enjoy killing you, you nosey bitch,’ Gimlet said, unsheathing the sword and coming to stand over Gail.

Instinctively, she moved so she was shielding Holly. Gimlet and Patricia wouldn't know who Holly was. Maybe killing Gail would be enough for Gimlet. Given Holly was unconscious, there was a chance he’d leave her be.

‘Who’s she?’ Gimlet said, viciously kicking Holly’s leg with the toe of his shoe.

‘She has nothing to do with this,’ Gail said, trying for all the world not to sound desperate, to appear like she didn't care.

‘She's from the forensics lab,’ Patricia supplied, ‘she’s the one I saw beheading the corpse.’

Gimlet smiled, his mouth quirking into a sneer that was pure menace. ‘Sweet,’ he said, sounding like he thought it anything but, ‘protecting your girlfriend. Hard to find loyalty like that these days.’

He raised the sword high above his head. Gail heard the sirens then. A patrol car and an ambulance. She could tell by the sounds. Quite near. The noise distracted Gimlet and he shook his head irritably and looked back uncertainly at his ex wife, all the while keeping the sword above his head.

The whole scene might have been quite comical if Gail hadn't been preoccupied by the very real possibility, well actually probability, she and Holly were about to die. How many times over the last twelve months had Gail found herself in a similar position? Actually, it had started before then with Perick. Policing could be a dangerous occupation, but really what were the odds. Perick, Aaron, Zaheer and now Gimlet. Gail’s very own bogeymen. Oh then there was Lucia. Each time she'd walked away. She'd survived. Problem was her luck had to run out sometime. The sirens were getting closer but not close enough to save her or even Holly.

‘Police. Back away from Detective Peck and put the sword down slowly.’ It was Chloe advancing towards them, with Dov at her side, both with guns drawn. Gail should have been relieved, however sensed Gimlet wouldn't go quietly. She looked up at him warily as he stood unwaveringly, the sword still upraised.

‘Back away now or I will fire.’ It was Chloe again. Gail had never heard her like this. Angry, her voice low and forceful, leaving no doubt as to the seriousness of her intent.

‘And if she doesn't, I will blow your fucking brains out, Gimlet.’ It was Frankie who spoke now. She'd come up a different path with Chris, emerging just to the right of Gail and Holly.

Finally, Gimlet took a step back, and then another, dropping the sword on the sand so it landed with a dull thud.

‘Thank Christ,’ Gail breathed out

………………………………………………….

 

Several hours had passed since they arrived at the hospital. Holly was unconscious the entire ambulance ride. She had been intubated, the gash on her forehead sutured and both she and Gail were sent off for head scans, which had come back clear. Holly woke briefly and they removed the tube from her throat, which brought on a coughing fit. Gail had hovered by her bed, feeling useless as the doctors and nurses went about attending to Holly with an impressive efficiency.

Gail was supposed to be in bed. There was some talk of hypothermia but now she knew Holly was safe she'd finally stopped shivering. Still, the doctors insisted Gail, as well as Holly, be under observation. Elaine turned up with sweats for both women (‘those hospital gowns are so immodest,’ she'd tutted) and Holly’s spare glasses as well as a pair of Gail’s jeans, a hoodie and combat boots.

‘I thought I’d bring you day clothes because I know you won't stay in bed,’ Elaine said with a sigh, ‘best not to have you wandering the hospital looking like a vagrant.’

‘I'm surprised you didn't bring me an evening gown,’ Gail quipped, nonetheless feeling appreciative.

‘I really wish you would give me a key to your place. I had to pick the lock,’ Elaine said, ignoring Gail’s jibe.

Becca and Kurt arrived next, sweeping Gail into a warm hug. Elaine looked on curiously.

‘You kept Holly safe. Thank you,’ Becca said quietly, holding on to Gail for a little longer.

‘I did my best,’ Gail said bashfully.

‘Nonsense,’ Elaine cut in sharply, ‘you are a hero, Gail. If it weren't for your actions Holly would still be trapped in that car beneath the lake.’

Gail winced. She couldn't understand why her mother was being so strident. Staking a claim to this space perhaps? Did she resent Gail’s easy relationship with Holly’s parents so was asserting her proprietorial rights as Gail’s mother? Or was she laying the groundwork for a commendation, maybe even a bravery award. She’d like that. It would probably mean Gail ending up on the news. All in all another fillip for Operation Peck as Gail scathingly referred to Elaine’s campaign to manoeuvre the family back into a position of power and influence.

At the mention of Holly being trapped in the car, Becca blanched.

‘We got out pretty quickly,’ Gail reassured her, touching Becca’s forearm lightly, ‘we actually weren't in the water too long.’

When two nurses came in to check on Holly, Gail suggested they step out into the waiting area. Holly was still sleeping and Gail figured it was best they didn't disturb her.

‘Holly is okay though?’ Becca asked once out of the room.

‘Yeah, she woke up a little while ago and was able to recite her name and date of birth,’ Gail reassured her.

‘Plus, I called David Phillips, the head of neurology. He took a look at both Gail and Holly’s scans and gave them the all clear,’ Elaine said.

‘So Holly’s in good hands,’ Kurt said decisively, clearly hoping this piece of information would ease Becca’s fears.

‘Absolutely,’ Gail smiled.

‘But what about you, Gail?’ Becca said, tilting her head to one side and creasing her brow in that way Holly did when she was concerned. ‘I haven't even asked,’ she added apologetically.

‘A little sore and tired, but I'm okay.’

‘And these people who ran you off the road, they’re connected with your investigation?’ Kurt asked. As Gail nodded, he said, ‘when Sergeant Shaw called, I was sure that doctor, Francine Hart, was responsible. These other two - they’ve been arrested?

‘They are in custody and will be charged,’ Elaine answered for Gail. ‘Kurt and Becca, why don't we get a coffee in the cafeteria. I can fill you in,’ she said, shepherding Holly’s parents towards the elevator before they had a chance to reply.

Gail shot her mother a grateful look. She really didn't have the energy to go over what happened just yet. Frankie would be here before long to take her statement, just as soon as she finished interviewing Frank and Patricia Gimlet.

……………………………………………………

The sound of Holly coughing again woke Gail from a light doze. Immediately, she was up out of her chair and by Holly’s side.

‘Are you okay?’ she asked, leaning over cautiously, not wanting to spook Holly, who understandably appeared slightly dazed.

Holly’s face, when she finally focused on Gail, registered complete surprise and then confusion. In fact, she did a double take, her head jerking back so violently for an instant Gail had the impression Holly was recoiling from her.

‘Where am I?’ Holly said, her voice raspy from having had the tube down her throat. As she struggled to sit up, Gail went to her aid.

‘In the hospital,’ Gail replied slowly. ‘You were in an accident, but you’re okay now.’

‘In an accident?’ Holly said, gingerly touching the bandage on her forehead as if testing it were real, her expression caught between alarmed and perplexed. ‘But I don't get it,’ she frowned in concentration, clearly trying to piece together what happened, ‘did you respond to the call out?’

‘Um,’ Gail hesitated. If Holly had blanked out the accident then Gail probably needed to be careful about what she said. ‘Not exactly.’

‘But, but,’ Holly faltered, clearly trying to figure out Gail’s involvement, ‘you were at the scene.’

‘Um, yeah.’

Holly ran her hand over her face and then winced when she reached the bandage.

‘Are you okay,’ Gail asked worriedly, ‘should I call the nurse. Do you need pain meds or something?’

Holly shook her head slowly. ‘It's not that,’ she started to say, then stopped and peered at Gail intently as if confirming, just like with the bandage, she was real.

‘I've got your spare glasses,’ Gail said, the intensity of Holly’s gaze making her remember the spectacles.

‘Why are you being so kind, Gail?’ Holly said with wonder, her question not the least bit accusatory.           ‘I don't get it,’ she looked around the room, ‘is it, is this a dream?’

‘Really, you think I'm only nice to you in your dreams?’ Gail started to quip but Holly interrupted.

‘But what are you doing in San Francisco?’

‘Holly, we’re in Toronto,’ Gail blurted out, so taken aback by Holly’s question she forgot about treading carefully.

‘Why would I be in Toronto. You’re in Toronto. I can't be in Toronto,’ Holly said as if that settled everything,

Now it was Gail’s turn to be bewildered. Holly was clearly disoriented. The doctors hadn't warned her, but Gail imagined memory loss might be normal after a concussion. Maybe she should get a doctor or nurse in here. ‘Holly,’ she began very gently but Holly spoke over her.

‘I'm here. You’re there. We can't be in the same place,’ Holly reasoned, ‘maybe this isn't real after all.’

‘Holly,’ Gail began once more, drawing out Holly’s name, her tone placatory.

Oh,’ Holly interrupted again as if struck by sudden understanding. It momentarily reassured Gail that was until Holly spoke again. ‘Oh, I'm visiting.’

‘Holly, what year is it?’

‘2014,’ Holly said without hesitation.

‘And where do you live?’

‘San Francisco,’ Holly started to say but then trailed off. ‘Gail, why are you asking me these questions? It's not,’ Holly hesitated, ‘it's not 2014 is it?’

Gail bit her lip and shook her head slowly.

‘Oh. Okay then,’ Holly nodded very slowly. It was clearly not okay. Gail could tell Holly was fighting hard not be flustered. This was a woman who liked to be in control of facts, to draw from them a logical conclusion, and that was definitely not happening here. Nothing was adding up. ‘Okay,’ Holly said again, taking a deep breath to calm herself, ‘obviously, I have amnesia. What year is it and why am I in Toronto?’

Gail pursed her lips, hesitating herself before speaking. ‘January 2017. You moved back to Toronto nearly a year ago. You’re the deputy chief of forensics.’

‘Oh,’ Holly said and then ‘oh’ again as she absorbed this information. ‘I've lost three years.’ She looked up at Gail ‘I came back for the job?’

‘Yeah,’ Gail drew out the word, ‘and-.’ She stopped.

‘And?

‘To be with me,’ Gail found herself saying shyly, unaccountably nervous. What if Holly or this version of her from 2014 didn't want that? Didn’t like the idea of them being together? What if she hated Gail for breaking her heart, for breaking up and not coming to San Francisco and for telling Holly she couldn't maintain contact, that it was best if they didn't speak or email or text.

‘We’re together?’ Holly asked with what was either surprise or wonder. In her current state of agitation, Gail couldn't tell. She bit her lip again and nodded.

‘Like together together. In a relationship together? Girlfriends,’ Holly said.

‘Yep,’ Gail popped the ‘p’. Now it was coming. Holly was going to tell her it was a huge mistake.

‘You’re kidding me. Really?’

‘Yep,’ Gail said again, wishing she could be more articulate, in this moment especially.

‘Really,’ Holly said, her face breaking out in the broadest smile. ‘This isn't a dream? Really. That’s,’ she paused, ‘is it weird to be sitting in a hospital bed with a bandage on my forehead and a splitting headache feeling so incredibly happy?’

Gail grinned. Okay, that was not the reaction she had expected.

…………………………………………………………………...

‘Short-term memory loss is not uncommon when a patient sustains a head wound such as Holly’s. The traumatic nature of her ordeal may have also contributed to her amnesia,’ Dr Phillips explained.

He was a genial man with a calm and confident manner. Slightly grizzled grey hair. Probably a curly mop when he was younger, Gail decided, but now it was receding, he wore it short.

‘Will she regain it?’ Kurt asked.

‘Well, it's hard to say for sure, but it's likely Holly’s mind as well as her body needs rest. It's amazing how restorative sleep can be. Once she’s had a chance to really rest, she may recover her memory.’

‘And if she doesn't?’ Becca asked.

‘Let’s cross that bridge if we come to it,’ the neurosurgeon said kindly, ‘in the meantime we’ll monitor Holly. I'm afraid it is very much a waiting game.’

‘Do we need to pretend it's 2014?’ Gail said, ‘or will it help if we tell Holly about her life now.’

‘I’d be definitely telling her about her life now. It may prod her to remember. But try and be as normal as possible around Holly.’

………………………..

Gail could hear Holly before she reached her room. Not quite yelling, but her voice was raised and she sounded angry. ‘Get out,’ she was saying, ‘get out. I don't want you anywhere near me.’

Thinking it could be Francine - she worked here at the hospital after all - Gail broke into a run. When she’d last left Holly’s room, Holly was falling back asleep. It was right after Dr Phillips examined her. This, plus the realization she’d forgotten a whole three years of her life, understandably had taken a toll. Coming into the room, Gail didn't find Francine but another doctor standing at the end of Holly’s bed.

‘Holly,’ Lisa was saying, wheedling really, ‘I thought we’d put that behind us. You know, moved on.’

‘Moved on? Moved on,’ Holly said contemptuously, ‘easy for you to say given you’re incapable of loving anyone but yourself. But fine, I’ll just walk away from the only person I ever really thought I could love.’

‘I don't understand why you’re dwelling on this now,’ Lisa’s brow was furrowed with genuine confusion, ‘and what do you mean walk away? Gail’s actions just saved your life.’

‘Saved my life,’ Holly exploded, ‘are you such an elitist bitch you think by driving Gail away you what, helped me dodge a bullet? I’ve put up with a lot of shit from you Lisa, but I don't think I can forgive you for this.’

‘Um, I had a hand in it too, Holly,’ Gail ventured as she moved into the room, ‘It wasn't entirely Lisa’s fault. I could have returned your calls. I could have told you how I was feeling. Instead, I was a brat and shut you out. Anyway, I was so messed up, if it wasn't Lisa, something else would have triggered me to run.’

So you’re talking to me now, Gail,’ Holly said coolly. It reminded Gail of that day in the lab when she had come bearing the thumb and Holly had been so remote and cold, determined not to yield to Gail. Which was fair enough. Holly had believed in Gail. Had trusted her. And what had Gail done? She’d run up a tree. So it made sense that Holly was hurt and angry, but mostly hurt, as Gail would discover. Later, much later, Holly told Gail all she really wanted to do that day was pull Gail close and not let her go. There was a good chance this was exactly what Holly was thinking right now, Gail thought as she tried to decide how best to respond to Holly.

‘Are you guys having a fight?’ Lisa said, still looking confused, ‘is that what this is about.’

Holly sighed heavily, not bothering to answer Lisa, ‘what are you even doing here, Gail?’

‘What the hell is going on, Gail?’ Lisa asked irritably before Gail had a chance to reply.

Ignoring Lisa, Gail looked directly at Holly. ‘Remember I was here when you woke up before. You’ve been in an accident. It caused some memory loss. You think it's 2014 but it's actually 2017 and you live in Toronto-‘

‘With you,’ Holly broke in, her face softening.

‘You remember?’ Gail asked hopefully.

‘No, but I remember you telling me when I woke up before.’

‘Well, believe it or not, you’ve forgiven Lisa. I even talk to her now. She’s dating a cop herself, admittedly a white shirt, and she keeps trying to organise double dates with us.’

‘So tazing yourself in the eye isn't an option anymore?’ Holly smiled.

Gail laughed. ‘That wasn't my finest moment, Holly.’

‘You’ve changed,’ Holly said, a note of wonder creeping into her voice, ‘you-‘

‘I grew up, Holly.’

‘So now you’re mature and all,’ Holly arched an eyebrow provocatively, ‘does that mean I can't ask you to taze Lisa, you know as a special favor to me. Seeing as I am your girlfriend. Just a low voltage. Just enough to make her hair stand on end.’

‘I said I grew up, I didn't say I'd matured completely, and you are my girlfriend after all,’ Gail grinned wickedly and Holly smirked.

‘Oh my god, you two,’ Lisa burst out, ‘you are never going to let me forget that night at the Penny.’  


…………………..

After Lisa left, Holly’s parents returned.

‘Did you guys fly over especially?’ Holly asked happily.

‘Ah, we’ve been in Toronto a couple of weeks, Holly,’ Kurt explained gently.

‘A couple of weeks!’ Holly exclaimed. She turned and looked at Gail, ‘you didn't tell me I'd been out that long.’

‘No. Just a few hours. Kurt and Becca have moved back here. They live in a house just round the corner from us.’

‘Oh.’

‘Yes, Gail helped us find it,’ Becca beamed.

‘Oh, okay,’ Holly started to nod but then stopped. ‘Wait, Kurt you aren't exactly enamoured with the police. Remember that lecture you gave about the police as instruments of state oppression. The coercive arm of governments which are becoming increasingly authoritarian and autocratic’

‘Yeah Kurt. I’d like to hear that lecture,’ Gail teased.

‘I wasn't referring to Canada,’ Kurt said in his defence.

Holly beckoned to Gail and, as Gail bent down, said in a stage whisper, ‘Becca and Kurt have a healthy disrespect for authority.’

‘Good thing it's healthy,’ Gail kidded, ‘I won't need to arrest them.’

‘Gail,’ Holly hissed, ‘you can't say that when they’re standing right here. You want them to like you, at least I want them to like you. It's important. Wait, do they know we’re dating?’

‘Holly, we adore Gail,’ Becca gushed, ‘she’s part of the family now. Don’t tell Kurt, but,’ Becca lowered her voice conspiratorially, ‘Gail's going to teach me how to shoot.’ Kurt raised his eyebrows good-naturedly, because of course he had heard what Becca said, and of course he knew about this plan she’d hatched with Gail.

‘But I wish you’d two would hurry up and give us grandchildren. I mean, your father and I aren't getting any younger,’ Becca continued, her voice returning to a normal level.

‘Oh,’ Holly worried at her lip, ‘this isn't some kind of alternate universe is it?’

………………………………………………

 

‘I was supposed to come to a family dinner at your house, but Gail and I broke up,’ Holly told Elaine, ‘at least I think we did. She’s not talking to me.’

Elaine arched an eyebrow. ‘Is that right? She often doesn't talk to me either. I've always found if you wait it out, Gail gets over it.’

‘Not this time. I think she really means it,’ Holly said, wiping away a small tear which had leaked out of the corner of her eye, ‘I'm not even sure what went wrong.’

‘Why don't you tell me everything, dear. I am her mother after all so I can help you figure out what's going on in that head of hers.’ Elaine’s voice was soft and understanding but her expression was the wolfish one she often wore in an interrogation when a suspect was on the point of cracking

‘As if,’ Gail scoffed from the doorway of the hospital room. She was standing with her hands on her hips and a look of incredulity on her face. Really, her mother was using Holly’s amnesia to pump her for information about why she and Gail broke up three years ago. ‘I think you forgot to bring your thumb screws, mother.’

‘Gail, I'm not interrogating Holly,’ Elaine sighed.

‘Yeah, well if you want to know why we broke up, you just needed to ask. I was an idiot. I hurt Holly. I had a lot of shit I needed to sort out.’

‘No. It wasn't just you,’ Holly broke in, ‘I should have known it was too soon to introduce you to Lisa. She can be an elitist asshole, sorry Superintendent. I wasn't just having fun. I thought that was obvious. I mean, I dragged you into an interrogation room when Ford was on the loose, I sat at the hospital with you when your friends were shot and I saved you from your drunken haircut. I thought it was clear how I felt.’

‘To anyone else.’ Gail, who hadn't advanced into the room, pushed her finger in the doorjamb and twisted it around, feeling vulnerable and uncomfortable about the Penny incident all over again. ‘But, you know me-‘

‘You went up that tree.’

Gail nodded numbly.

‘You thought I was just like all the others. Why would I bother with all those texts and calls if I wasn't serious about you.’

‘I know, I know. I was a brat. It was stupid, but no one sticks around, not until you. It seemed easier to run before I got hurt.’

‘Oh,’ Holly frowned, ‘this is so messed up. And now I think I have another girlfriend. Well, I'm dating someone. It was Lisa’s idea. Best way to get over someone is to get a leg over someone,’ Holly stopped, suddenly conscious of Elaine’s presence. ‘Sorry, Superintendent. Lisa’s words.’

‘I’ve never found that to be very sound advice,’ Elaine said.

‘Yeah,’ Holly agreed, ‘I'm not even sure I like this girl very much. She’s not-‘ Holly broke off.

‘She’s not Gail,’ Elaine said, sounding surprisingly empathetic. She had been watching the exchange between the two women keenly. No secrets now, Gail thought, knowing her mother was sure to grill her about the interrogation room and the haircut at a later date.

Holly nodded and looked down at her hands as if a little embarrassed she’d revealed this much.

‘You do have a girlfriend,’ Gail said, coming into the room properly now, ‘and it's me. Remember, Holly it's not 2014. You were in an accident. It's 2017.’

When Holly looked up at Gail she was frowning like she didn't quite get it. Then she pushed her glasses back up her nose, bit the inside of her lip and narrowed her eyes a little, just like she always did when puzzling out a conundrum. Holly’s concentrating face, Gail called it, and teased her because there was something of the mad professor about it. ‘Oh, oh of course,’ Holly finally said as if it all suddenly made complete sense. She gave Gail a huge smile and then turned to Elaine. ‘So why did you let me think it was 2014, Elaine?’ she asked sharply.

Elaine, at least, had the decency to blush. Just a little, but enough so Gail and Holly noticed. Busted, Gail thought, that was so an interrogation. Still, at some point she was going to have to thank Elaine for insisting she learn all those drills.

…………………………………………………….

 

‘There’s no point taking Holly’s statement just now,’ Gail said gloomily, ‘she thinks it 2014.’

Amnesia?’ Frankie asked and Gail nodded. They were sitting in a little room, just off the waiting area, normally reserved for patient’s families. ‘It’s temporary isn't it?’

Gail shrugged despondently, ‘we hope.’

‘So 2014? Before or after you two split?’

‘After. About the time she moved to San Francisco. Although she got confused talking to Elaine and thought it right after I stopped talking to her.’

‘Holly wouldn't be the first person to find talking to your mother confusing,’ Frankie quipped, ‘man that's kind of fucked up but funny too. Is Holly really pissed with you? That I gotta see.’

‘Yeah it’s hilarious, Anderson,’ Gail rolled her eyes, ‘Holly’s sort of sad and then happy when I tell we’re together.’

‘Well, that's good isn't it. What if her 2014 self decided she wanted nothing to do with you.’

‘Don’t joke. I'm still waiting for that penny to drop.’

‘Not going to happen, Gail,’ Frankie said firmly, ‘remember when you and Holly got back together after the Chicago conference, Chloe said you two were inevitable. She’s right you know.’

Gail blew out a breath. ‘So the statement.’

‘Your statement should be enough for now. Gimlet and Patricia have admitted running you and Holly off the road.’

‘Really. I thought they’d be real hard asses. Give up nothing.’

‘It took awhile,’ Frankie admitted, ‘but they cracked when I intimated each was framing the other.’

‘Basic move. Criminals are idiots.’

‘Yep. Plus we found the rest of Brierly’s body in a freezer in Patricia Gimlet’s garage. That gave us a certain amount of leverage.’

‘I bet,’ Gail grinned, ‘these two get stupider and stupider.’

‘Rodney and Natasha are combing through the house now. What's the bet the Samurai sword Gimlet was waving about comes back as a match for the weapon used to decapitate Brierly.’

‘So was the motive protecting the company?’

‘Yep. Once again it's all about greed. Brierly and Damien came to Patricia with evidence of the animal cruelty thinking she’d help them expose Gimlet. She pretended to be on their side but contacted Gimlet immediately.’

‘Protecting her stake in the company came first.’

‘Indeed. It was she who came up with the plan to kill Brierly by giving him an overdose. She invited him to her house on the pretext of discussing what was happening at EquanimityPlus. She and Gimlet planned on dumping him in an alley and leaving him there to die, but he ODed at her house before they had a chance to move him. Gimlet had the bright idea to behead him. Supposedly to frame the animal liberationists who protested outside EquanimityPlus. Thought we might make a connection with the fake guillotine they set up.’

‘You sure he wasn't just looking for an excuse to use the sword.’

‘Wouldn't rule it out. Blood lust certainly seems like a thing for him.’

‘Yeah, if you guys hadn't turned up when you did, Rodney might now be autopsying my head,’ Gail shuddered, ‘why did he and Patricia come after Holly and me?’

‘They got it in their heads, no pun intended, you'd figured out the whole thing.’

‘But that's plain dumb. If I had figured it out, at the very least I would have told you and Chloe and Dov. Were they planning on killing you three as well.’

‘Who knows, as you say criminals are stupid,’ Frankie shrugged, ‘maybe they were overtaken by murdering madness.’

Gail and Frankie had talked about this before. How murder could drive you over the edge. Gail called it the madness of murder. For some murderers, it was like the act of taking someone’s life induced a psychosis, made them paranoid and illogical and liable to act recklessly. Holly had joked Gail should try to convince the Association of Psychiatrists to add it to its list of recognised mental illnesses. Counterproductive, Gail pronounced, pointing out that if it made murderers do stupid things then they were easier to catch.

‘What about Damien? Shit, that wasn't his head out by the lake?’

‘No, that I believe is the head Holly was practicing on last night. Natasha recognised it.’

‘One of the Gimlets got into the morgue?’ Gail asked.

‘Yep,’ Frankie nodded, ‘Patricia and it was alarmingly easy. She deliberately bumped into Dr Wilson on his way out of the elevator and swiped his pass. As you know, because of cutbacks, a security guard only patrols the morgue at night. Seems Patricia saw Holly decapitating the corpse and decided to use it to lure the two of you out to the lake.’

‘And we holding hands when we left the morgue.’

‘And she figured you were together. Decided killing you both was the only option.’

‘I had this feeling we were being watched when we left the morgue last night, but when I looked around I couldn't see anyone. Figured I was jumpy because of Francine. But seeing Holly slice off that head must have made Patricia even more convinced we were on to her.’

‘Yeah, well you pretty much had figured it out,’ Frankie said.

‘I never imagined Patricia would be working with Gimlet,’ Gail shook her head, ‘so how did they plan on silencing Damien?’

‘Gimlet said he believed he could reason with his son and swears he never had any intention of killing him.’

‘But the fact Damien is in hiding suggests otherwise.’

‘I’d say he’s in fear for his life but hopefully he’ll come forward now. Especially as your mother has a press conference scheduled for an hour’s time. She plans on detailing the arrests and your heroics.’

‘Oh man,’ Gail groaned, ‘can you stop her. Please.’

‘And keep my job. Not likely.’

……………………………………………………………..

 

‘I’ve seen you before,’ Holly said to Frankie, ‘you tried to pick me up at a conference in Chicago.’

That would be right, Gail thought, Holly would remember Frankie. She recalled nothing from the last three years except meeting Frankie. Still, the fact she remembered anything at all was progress Gail supposed, yet couldn't help feel a little begrudging.

‘Frankie used a really cheesy pick-up line, that's why I remember I guess,’ Holly said, as if she knew what Gail was thinking.

‘Yeah,’ Gail said, suddenly interested.

‘We probably don't need to revisit that,’ Frankie hedged.

‘No, no. This I want to hear,’ Gail said with glee.

‘Frankie asked what someone so beautiful was doing in a dive like that and offered to transport me to a much better place.’

Gail grinned wickedly. Of course she’d heard this story before. Holly had told her how she’d looked at Frankie and then at her bowl of granola and berries and yogurt and then back at Frankie as though seriously weighing her options and then said she’d pass because her breakfast was more appealing. When she heard this, Gail decided Holly must have been momentarily channeling her, but Holly said it Frankie’s conceitedness had rubbed her up the wrong way.

‘She was speaking metaphorically of course, when she promised to take you to a higher plane,’ Gail said now.

‘That was the sense I got.’

‘I am still here you know,’ Frankie scowled, ‘and I was way smoother than that.’

‘Ha, sounds better than the line she used on me about giving women the best sex on their lives,’ Gail said, ignoring Frankie.

‘Frankie hit on you?’ Holly sounded surprised but then screwed up her face, ‘that's right you two slept together or are sleeping together.'

‘Were, did,’ Gail said hurriedly.

‘In the past,’ Frankie agreed.

‘Very, very much in the past!’ Gail flapped a hand about as if trying to indicate the passage of time. ‘Although in September 2014, which is where you’re stuck, it was in the future but it's so so past now. Completely not a thing. Ancient history.’

Holly tilted her head to one side.

‘What?’ Gail said, realising she was making an idiot of herself.

‘I know,’ Holly smiled, ‘you told me at the conference.’

‘You remember the conference,’ Gail said excitedly.

‘I remember we had a lot of sex. Like really, really hot sex.’

Gail felt herself coloring. Dammit, she shouldn't be embarrassed but now Frankie was staring at her with a big knowing smirk on her face. Gail had still to exact a proper revenge on Frankie and Rodney for betting on whether she and Holly had sex that night. ’Uh Holly, is it normal to lose your filter when you have amnesia.’

‘I haven't heard that,’ Holly started to say, ‘oh, am I'm being too candid. I just thought you’d want me to tell you everything I remembered, and I gotta tell you, Gail, that I remember.’

…………………………………………

 

‘I had a dream,’ Holly said. She’d woken from another short nap. Being constantly reminded she had forgotten three years seemed to exhaust her. ‘We were on the run. You were a secret agent or something.’

‘Really,‘ Gail said with interest, sitting up straight in her chair, a little like an overeager child. ‘Was I badass?'

Holly laughed. ‘What do you think?’

‘I was totally badass,’ Gail said, ‘I'd be a very cool secret agent.’

‘Don't even think about it,’ Holly shook her head, ‘I worry enough about you being in uniform and out on patrol.’

‘Um Holly, I'm a detective now.’

‘A detective! Really! We should celebrate.’

‘Um Holly, it happened over a year ago. You know, before we got together again.

‘Oh, and I guess you celebrated with Frankie.’

Gail could tell Holly was trying to keep the edge out of her voice, trying to sound unconcerned by the thought of Gail marking this milestone with the brash detective, but failing.

‘We had a few drinks at the Penny that night, yeah, but then I went home because the only person I wanted to celebrate with wasn't there. Every time something momentous happened – good or bad, I wanted to tell you. That night, on the way home I went and broke it off with Olivia because it wasn't fair she wasn't the first person I thought about when something big happened.’

How many times had Gail reached for her phone to dial Holly or composed an email she didn't send. How many times had she found herself, thinking I should tell Holly, Holly would get a kick out of hearing that. It wasn't just the triumphs, or the tragedies like Steve’s betrayal, no it was little things too. A particularly stupid suspect, a tricky case, which was only solved with some even trickier forensic science.

‘Olivia was your girlfriend?’ Holly asked gently. When Gail nodded, she said a little wistfully, ‘was she nice.’

‘Yeah. You’ve met her and you like her. Probably too sweet for me, but she cared about me and maybe it could have worked if I could have got over you.’

‘Oh Gail,’ Holly sighed, ‘we are such idiots.’

‘But idiots who love each other.’

‘You love me?’ Holly said, seemingly surprised by Gail’s admission.

‘Well, yeah,’ Gail said, frowning and trying to sound off-hand, like it wasn't a big deal. She was so used to telling Holly she loved her, it had just slipped out. What if Holly found this information overwhelming? What if her 2014 self wasn't ready to hear this, or worse still, didn't feel the same way about Gail.

‘Really, you love me,’ Holly’s voice was gathering excitement and she was fighting to suppress a grin without much success. ‘You love me.’ She stopped and then said, ‘wait you’ve told me that already haven't you?’

‘Many times,’ Gail nodded, still looking solemn and, despite Holly’s grin, still unsure about her reaction.

‘I love you, I can't tell you how much because the way I love you is huge,’ Holly said earnestly, ‘I can't quantify it. But I love you. You know that, don't you? I must have told you.’

Gail nodded again, smiling now, in fact unable to stop the grin spilling over her face.

‘Would it be okay to kiss you,’ Holly asked, ‘I really feel like I want to kiss you right now.’

‘Very okay. You know you don’t have to ask,’ Gail said. She moved from her chair and sat on the bed so she was facing Holly. It was Gail who leaned in, placing the softest of kisses on Holly’s lips. Holly smiled into the kiss, her lips quirking with a happiness Gail found infectious. It must be weird for Holly, waking up thinking she and Gail were over, that they weren't talking, let alone touching or kissing, and then finding the complete opposite to be true. It was no wonder she had asked permission.

‘Who said it first?’ Holly asked pulling back, ‘I bet it was you.’

‘Um yeah,’ Gail said, drawing out the yeah and flushing and feeling annoyed with herself for being so self-conscious. It was just she had hoped to say it that first time in a much more romantic setting and in a much more considered manner than crying out as Holly trust her fingers inside her, the two of them standing in the bath tub with the shower water trickling down their bodies.

‘So describe it to me. Maybe it will help me remember. When did you say it.’

‘Well. I kind of said it without thinking.’

Holly titled her head to one side. She was smiling but her expression was quizzical. ‘Without thinking?’

‘It was an unguarded moment. I wasn't quite myself.’

‘Oh,’ Holly said understanding, ‘oh okay. We were having sex.’

Gail made a rueful face. ‘It wasn't very romantic. We were in the shower.’

‘That is kind of romantic. I mean, we have a thing for showers,’ Holly smiled encouragingly.

‘True, I guess, and I meant it. It wasn't just because, you know.’

‘Because?’ Holly arched an eyebrow teasingly.

‘You have some talents, Stewart. I'm surprised you don't have women lining up to confess their love,’ Gail said, recovering some of her sass.

‘Ha. I don't think anyone is quite as appreciative of my talents as you,’ Holly laughed as she put air quotes around the word talent.

‘What talents are we talking about?’ It was Lisa who spoke. She was standing at the door. Trust her to walk in right at this moment, Gail thought, trying not to roll her eyes but without much success. Holly’s lips twitched just a little. Given Holly had barely acknowledged Lisa, Gail got the distinct impression she was amused by Gail’s reaction.

‘Ugh, are you two making out already,’ Lisa said on noticing how close the two women were sitting, Holly with her arms draped around Gail’s shoulders.

Holly dropped her smile. ‘Lisa,’ she said stiffly, ‘impeccable timing as always.’ Now it was Gail’s turn to be amused, and she found her lips quirking in much the same way as Holly’s had just before.

‘You're not going to throw things at me are you, Holly. I brought Rachel,’ Lisa huffed.

With that, Rachel popped out from behind Lisa, holding an enormous bunch of flowers. Christmas lilies – huge trumpet shaped flowers with their pure white petals offset by yellow stamens - dramatic yet somehow elegant, their fragrance exquisite and sweet. Holly’s face relaxed and she was smiling once more, one of her warm, wide smiles.

‘How come I don’t get that kind of welcome?’ Lisa complained.

‘Because Rachel tells me – ‘ Holly stopped and then corrected herself – ‘told me to keep trying with Gail.’

‘Okay, okay. I misjudged Peck. I realize that now. But am I going to have to apologise for that for the rest of my life?’

Holly’s face as she regarded Lisa was unreadable but then Gail saw the smallest glint of mischief, or was it evil. Holly smiled again but it was nothing like the smile she gave Rachel. There was nothing welcoming about it. No, it was like the fake smile Gail had perfected, saccharine and yet devoid of any sincerity or warmth. If Holly were completely stuck in 2014 there was no way she’d be looking at Lisa like that, Gail thought. In the brief period they dated before Holly went to San Francisco, there hadn't been enough time for Holly to master that expression, or even have occasion to attempt it.

In fact, it was only a few weeks back, after a particularly unedifying encounter with Jen Luck, that Holly had replicated the smile Gail had given the officer from 27 (which, as Gail intended, sent Jen on her way). The two of them had fallen about laughing. ‘Oh my god, you nailed it,’ Gail said, ‘do I really look at people like that, like they’re imbeciles.’ Holly had nodded.

Now Holly was nodding again but slowly, that smile still fixed on her face. ‘Yep, Lisa. I don't think you’ve completely paid your dues yet.’

And yep, Gail thought, no matter how playful, that was a taunt of a woman who'd spent the last year in a relationship with her. It cheered her a little because it just might mean the last three years were in there somewhere.

……………………………………..

 

After Rachel and Lisa left, Holly went back to sleep and Gail found herself drifting off. She woke to see Gemma Lister at the foot of Holly’s bed going through Holly’s chart.

‘Is everything alright,’ Gail whispered.

‘Yeah, all good. I'm supposed to be checking on you too.’

‘I'm fine,’ Gail said dismissively.

‘That I find hard to believe. I was told you pulled Dr Stewart out of the water. That you saved her life.’

Gail shrugged once more like it didn't mean anything.

‘When I came on shift and heard about it, I thought maybe Dr Hart was responsible.’

‘No, it was two other psychos who also had it in for us,’ Gail said drily.

‘At least you can joke about it, I guess,’ Gemma said. She hesitated as if unsure and then said, ‘you know that Dr Hart has gone AWOL. She didn't show for work yesterday or this morning and she’s not answering her phone.’

…………………………………..

 

‘Dr Hart’s disappearance may have nothing to do with Holly or you,’ Fiona Vincent reassured Gail. ‘She is about to be deregistered as a medical practitioner. I intended telling Holly that at the meeting we had scheduled for this morning.’

‘So what did she do?’ Gail asked. She was once again in the little family room. At this rate, they’d be commandeering it as an outpost of 15.

‘Talked a patient into a very risky procedure which left him paralysed.’

‘That's not good but it's hardly a sackable offence.’

‘It is when you’re sleeping with the patient’s wife. Apparently Dr Hart used the wife to coerce the patient. Had the procedure succeeded, it would have made Francine Hart something of a rock star.’

‘Well, that fits. She’s an attention seeker.’

‘And there’s more. When the operation failed, the wife broke it off with Dr Hart. The doctor then started stalking her. Left harassing messages. The woman filed a complaint with police and took out a restraining order. That’s when Dr Hart transferred here to Toronto.’

‘But given her history, why did this hospital agree to the transfer?’ Gail furrowed her brow. Sometimes employers got sloppy when it came to background checks or paperwork went missing, but this hospital had a good reputation.

‘She got good references from the hospital in San Francisco. I suspect they were relieved to see her go. A transfer meant they could wash their hands of her. Dr Hart’s case hadn’t come before the medical board and Toronto General didn't see a need to do a police check.’

‘Shit,’ Gail exhaled, ‘what do we do now?’

‘When Holly’s up to it, she should make a statement so we can lay formal charges. I suspect Dr Hart has gone to ground. Possibly left the city if not the country, so with any luck she may not bother you and Holly again.’

‘Yeah, right, ‘ Gail said a little bitterly, ‘if we’re lucky. You know, Holly has no memory of the last three years. You might be waiting awhile for that statement.’

‘I’m sorry Gail,’ Fiona’s manner, which up to now had been brisk, softened, ‘I spoke to Lisa about it. She said short-term memory loss is not uncommon following a blow to the head and there’s every chance Holly will recover her memory.’

‘Yeah, well,’ Gail bit her lip and looked down at her hands. For some reason, Fiona’s words, the shift from officiousness to compassion, made Gail feel vulnerable. She had been strong all day but now, now she was exhausted. She ached all over and her mind and body felt strung out, literally stretched thin, and she had reached the point of endurance. Which was not how a Peck was supposed to react in these situations. No, Pecks were meant to be resilient, stoic until the very end.

In truth, all she wanted to do was go home and lie in Holly’s arms, draw comfort from her calm strength, and not think about the fact that both of them, but Holly especially, had almost died. She felt tears pricking at her eyes and dug her fingernails into her palms, determined not to cry in front of Fiona.

‘Gail, the good news is the investigation into your conduct has finally been dropped. The Commissioner was satisfied with my preliminary findings which completely exonerated you.’

The Commissioner. Gail knew the top brass had insisted on the inquiry but hadn't realized the complaint had gone that far. Fiona stood and Gail nodded numbly, and then croaked out a ‘thanks.’

‘Don't thank me. You did nothing wrong. You should never have been under investigation in the first place,’ Fiona said, then smiled, ‘but if you quote me on that, I’ll deny it. I want to keep my job.’

Gail mustered a small smile.

‘And Gail, if there’s anything I can do,’ Fiona said, looking as if she were about to put her hand on Gail’s shoulder and then reconsidering. Gail figured Fiona was put off by the look of alarm on her face. She still hated being touched, well except by Holly.

After Fiona left, Gail sat in the little room for a few more minutes. What if Holly didn't regain her memory? Would it be a terrible thing? Would the weight of not knowing take it’s toll? Eat away at Holly. Would Holly resent the fact that Gail knew all these things about them, about their relationship and their history, which she did not?

‘Overthinking,’ came a voice from the doorway. It was Becca, looking concerned but with Holly’s warm, lop-sided smile, ‘Kurt and I are about to go home and Holly’s asking for you.’

When Gail stood, Becca drew her into a hug. Okay, maybe there were two people she didn't mind touching her. This was the second hug Becca had given her today and it felt alright. In fact more than alright. It was comforting and steadying and it calmed Gail and made her realize she didn't have to face this alone. That she and Holly had family and friends, a whole community, who were here for them, who’d already rallied around, had checked on them and made sure they were alight. Even Elaine in her peculiarly imperious way. Chris and Dov and Frankie and Chloe who'd got there in time, Chloe so angry Gimlet would dare threaten Gail and Holly, and quite prepared to shoot him had he not dropped his weapon.

‘It will be okay, Gail. I know it,’ Becca said, releasing Gail from the hug and Gail allowed herself to believe her.

……………………………….

‘I kind of wish it was 2014,’ Kurt mused, ‘then Obama would still be President and David Bowie would still be alive.’ He and Becca were on their way out. It was dark outside now and both Holly and Gail were flagging.

‘And Leonard Cohen and Prince,’ Becca said.

‘And Carrie Fisher,’ Holly said.

‘Trust you, nerd,’ Gail smiled, knowing from first hand experience Holly could recite great swathes of dialogue from the Star Wars films, ‘I bet you had a thing for Princess Leia.’

‘No, I always preferred blondes.’

‘Wait a minute,’ Gail said excitedly, ‘Carrie Fisher only died last month.’

‘Uh, it's hardly a thing to get excited about, Gail,’ Holly said.

‘No, no. It was terrible, but it only happened last month and you remembered. That's a good sign, right?’

‘I guess. It could be,’ Holly agreed.

After Kurt and Becca left, Gail decided to get ready for bed. The room had two beds, something it transpired Elaine had insisted upon, knowing Gail was unlikely to leave Holly’s side. As she changed into her sweats, Gail heard Holly give a little gasp. She swung around in alarm. ‘Are you okay?’

Holly blushed and lowered her eyes shyly. ‘I just forgot how gorgeous you are,’ she admitted.

‘Really, you forgot all this hotness,’ Gail teased, raising an eyebrow exaggeratedly in parody of someone trying to be sultry and sexy.

Holly laughed. ‘No. That would be impossible. I just forgot I was allowed to see you like that.’ She waved her hand in Gail’s direction.

‘Like what? Naked? Do you need me to give you another show,’ Gail shimmied her hips, and picking up the corner of her t-shirt, began to slowly peel it upwards.

‘No stop,’ Holly laughed again, ‘the nurses will probably walk in and we’ll be thrown out.’

‘Worse things than being evicted from a hospital.’ Gail dropped her hold on the t-shirt.

‘I know you hate hospitals,’ Holly said sympathetically, ‘but they should discharge us in the morning. No reason to keep us here. My headaches gone.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail agreed, wondering if the doctors would release Holly if she hadn't recovered her memory but not wanting to voice that fear. She turned her back on Holly and started pulling back the covers on her bed.

‘Gail,’ Holly said, her voice tentative, even a little diffident, ‘can you sleep here with me. I just want to hold you.’

 

……………………………………….

 

In the morning, Gail woke to find Holly smiling at her. They both had their arms wrapped around each other and their legs comfortably tangled. Given the events of yesterday, Gail felt remarkably refreshed. Her body was still stiff but the aches had disappeared. She smiled back at Holly.

‘You saved my life,’ Holly said.

‘Is that what everyone's been telling you,’ Gail hedged.

‘No. I remember. I was trapped in the car and it was freezing and water was pouring in and you wouldn't leave me. You kept going under the water to unfasten my seat belt and then next thing you were pulling me free.’

‘You remember all that,’ Gail asked, deciding now was not the best time to tell Holly about Gimlet and the sword, ‘do you know what year it is?’

‘2017. I remember everything. I know I couldn't yesterday but now I do. I remember finding you again and coming back here to Toronto, to you. And I remember how brave you were yesterday, how you wouldn't leave me. How you saved me.’

‘I could never leave you,’ Gail kissed Holly tenderly on the lips, ‘Holly, you saved me first. By coming into my life, you saved me.’

……………………………………………..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could never send these two to a watery grave! Never ever. I'm sorry if I had readers thinking otherwise. The clue in the last chapter that Gail and Holly were going to survive this was that scene where Gail, Frankie and Oliver walk past the jewellery store advertising Valentine’s Day and Gail says it's all a sham. If you’ve read my one-shot ‘Valentine's Day’, you’ll know it's set about one month into the future and Gail and Holly are very much alive, and Frankie and Alannah are together. So it was full of spoilers!
> 
> So just for once, I haven't ended this on a cliffhanger – although Francine Hart is still out there somewhere. Is this the last we’ve seen of her?
> 
> Initially, I didn't plan for Holly to lose her memory but then a reviewer – 5v5 - on Archive of Our Own suggested it as a possibility and it sort of took over and changed the whole direction of the chapter.  
> It looks like as long as Chappy keeps reading this, I'll have to keep writing. I may have made a rash promise of sorts. That said, I've been so busy, I've only had time to write and not read so I'm two chapters behind in EOINA – but I plan on catching up now.


	43. Forty-three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters…
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos and for reading and subscribing and bookmarking. All of it encourages me to keep going with this. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this next chapter.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Holly’s fingers felt incredible. The very small part of Gail’s brain still capable of coherent thought knew this was an understatement. However, in her current state, overtaken as she was by arousal and desire, Gail couldn't find a better word to describe what Holly’s fingers were doing to her. Incredible would just have to do. 

Each thrust of Holly’s hand sent another wave through Gail’s body, starting at her centre, making it feel somehow large and small at the same time, as if every ounce of energy in her body, every nerve and every fibre was concentrated here and becoming increasingly and deliciously taut. Then it all became too much – the various sensations building and then combining with an intensity that was impossible to contain, finally spreading out to the very tips of Gail’s fingers and toes – and Gail was calling out Holly’s name and pulling her down to hold her tight and kiss her breathlessly. Holly laughed like she always did after sex; that happy, delighted, satiated laugh which infused Gail with joy. Gail smiled up at her.

‘Sex in the afternoon,’ she quirked an eyebrow. Gail had already made Holly come twice and may have kept going but Holly had insisted it was Gail’s turn and really Gail hadn’t needed a lot of persuading.

Holly laughed again. ‘Afternoon delight.’

‘Afternoon delight,’ Gail scrunched up her face, ‘wasn't that a cheesy 70’s song.’

‘True, but the phrase comes from two Ancient Egyptian words,‘ Holly moved so she was lying on her side, next to Gail. ‘Aftaron meaning before night and delita meaning sex. Apparently couples would meet on the banks of the Nile to eat lunch and spend the afternoon having sex. If you ask me, a very civilised approach to life.’

‘Nerd. Trust you to know that. Is that what they taught you in anthropology class?’

‘Gail, I read it on a beer coaster when I was in college,’ Holly smiled crookedly, ‘it may not even be true.’

As Holly was speaking, Gail sat up and made a show of sweeping the perimeter of the bed with her eyes.

‘What are you doing?’ Holly asked, looking genuinely perplexed but laughing nonetheless at Gail’s antics.

‘Looking for bulrushes,’ Gail deadpanned.

‘Bulrushes,’ Holly turned her head to one side and stared at Gail questioningly.

‘Well, it seems our bed has become the bank of the Nile.’

‘You complaining?’ 

‘About sex with you. Never,’ Gail smiled impishly and leant down to kiss Holly.

They were playing hooky. It was Holly’s idea. She’d messaged Gail to say come home for lunch. Gail had barely made it through the front door before Holly was tugging her upstairs to bed. They weren't being entirely irresponsible. Things were quiet for both them at work. ‘Too cold for murder,’ Gail had quipped, ‘we’ll start getting bodies once the weather warms up.’ Holly laughed indulgently but conceded there was something in what Gail said. Still, Gail would need to text Frankie. Say she was taking the afternoon. Frankie would tease her, of course. Gail had had a few unexplained absences lately.

It had been like this ever since Gail had saved Holly from the lake. Sex had always been something they did often, well actually quite a lot Gail had to admit. Particularly when they first got back together. How many times had Gail turned up for work bleary eyed and yawning because she and Holly had stayed up most of the night fucking. Now though, it was like every time an opportunity presented itself, and even sometimes when she had to create that opportunity, Holly wanted to have sex. Not that Gail minded. Not one bit, but she was beginning to wonder if something else was up with Holly.

‘You know we should start taking your temperature in the morning. Track your ovulation,’ Holly broke into Gail’s thoughts.

‘You trying to knock me up Stewart,’ Gail quipped, ‘is that what this is all about.’

‘Oh sure,’ Holly said, putting her head to one side and smirking.

‘But honey we keep trying and trying and it's not working,’ Gail said in her best imitation of a 1950s housewife.

Holly laughed then ran her hand down from Gail’s breasts and across her ribs to her abdomen, gently stroking the flat of her stomach and then resting her hand at the very base of it. Gail shivered just a little, anticipating Holly’s hand would go lower still, and already feeling the wetness between her legs at this thought. But Holly’s hand remained motionless, curved slightly so she was cupping Gail’s stomach almost reverentially.

‘I could imagine you pregnant,’ Holly said with a touch of whimsy.

‘You’re serious about this, aren't you,’ Gail said.

‘Well, you want kids, don't you?’

‘Yeah but not right away. We’ve barely been back together a year.’

‘Gail, it’s not like we can go out and get a baby from the supermarket. It takes nine months. Well, technically it's more like ten months if you go by weeks. And you’re not getting any younger,’ Holly paused as Gail made a face.

‘Great, thanks for reminding me Holly. You sure know how to sweet talk a girl.’

‘It just might take you longer to get pregnant. That's all I meant. The older you are, the harder it is to conceive. Chances of it working first time are slim. I mean, it can happen so we can't rule it out either. So we should be prepared just in case. And of course we need to find a donor first. We haven't even discussed how much involvement he’ll have or if we even want our kid to know who he is. Then there is the whole question of what it will mean for our jobs and- ‘

Gail leaned in and kissed Holly, pushing her back on the bed and shifting so she was lying on top of her. Holly didn't resist. In fact, Gail could tell by her expression that Holly was anticipating what would come next so she dipped her head down for a much longer kiss.

‘I'm rambling,’ Holly said after Gail pulled back, ‘aren't I?’

Gail nodded but she was smiling. ‘What's brought this on? I didn't think you were entirely onboard with the kid idea. Not in the immediate future anyway.’

‘Oh you know,’ Holly said airily.

‘Is your biological clock ticking or something? Maybe if it's such a powerful urge, you should have the baby’.’

‘No it's not that,’ Holly started to say but just then Gail’s cell rang. She rolled off Holly and reached for the phone, half sitting up as she did so.

‘Peck,’ she said, ‘oh hey Frankie. I was about to message you.’

‘Yeah, got one of your mysterious headaches? You know the ones that only come on in the afternoon,’ Frankie said.

‘No,’ Gail tried to sound indignant. ‘Did you call to check on my welfare or is there another reason.’

‘Yeah. There is this thing we do called work. You know that money you get in your bank account every fortnight, it has something to do with that. Is it becoming clearer now?’ Frankie paused. When Gail didn’t respond, she continued in a more serious tone, ‘some guys excavating a building site came across bones. Human. Apparently look like they’ve been there some time.’

Gail sat up properly now, her full attention with Frankie. ’Where?’ 

‘Out by the old dairy. At the end of Weston Road. I'm headed over there now. Trouble is I looked around for my partner and there’s no sign of her. Went to lunch and never came back. I’m considering putting an APB out on her.’

‘Okay. Okay, very funny. I can be there in fifteen. Do you need Holly?’

‘She with you?’ Frankie feigned surprise.

Holly’s phone rang then.

‘Don't worry,’ Gail said, ‘I think we got our answer.’

………………………………………………………………………

 

Gail pulled into a lot next to what appeared to be a disused clubhouse. Its windows were boarded and graffiti was scrawled across the exterior walls. The lot was nearly full. Gail recognised Frankie’s car parked next to the morgue van. Weeds were growing through cracks in the asphalt where it hadn't buckled. A large hoarding bordered one side of the lot. ‘The Archer’ it said in big, bold, gold letters. Then ‘1, 2 and 3 bedroom boutique apartments. Now selling.’ It listed VisCom as the developer.

A small group of construction workers, some still with hard hats on, others with watch caps pulled low over their ears to keep out the cold, were huddled around a little fire behind the clubhouse. No doubt when the body was discovered, they were told to stand down. Beyond the clubhouse was a large plot of land, which looked like it had been cleared and levelled in readiness for construction to begin. Directly opposite the clubhouse, and at the very edge of the cleared plot, an excavator stood idle. A group of people, including Frankie and Andy, were gathered around the machine.

Gail nodded in the direction of the construction workers, none of who asked why she was there. Given she’d clipped her badge to the pocket of her jeans, it was fairly obvious what her business was. Still, one man good-naturedly asked Holly if she’d like help carrying her kit.

‘Thanks but I’m used to it,’ Holly smiled.

‘Forensic pathologist,’ the guy asked and Holly nodded.

Gail quirked an eyebrow. ‘How did you know that?’ 

‘Forensic kit,’ he said pointing eagerly like he was about to be awarded a merit badge for his efforts, ‘I’ve watched enough crime shows to recognise one.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail said more sourly than she meant to, ‘you sure it doesn't look like an oversized lunchbox?’

‘Nope. Anyway you’re here because of the bones. Chances are it's a forensic kit.’

‘You’re quite the detective,’ Gail said dryly.

‘Don’t get him started,’ said one of the other workers, a woman who looked no more than twenty. ’Costa’s obsessed with mysteries. He’ll probably come up with a theory about those bones.’ She jerked her thumb in the direction of the excavator.

‘Yeah,’ Gail tried not to sound skeptical. Amateur sleuths. Her favourite thing. In her experience they were more hinderance than help. ‘Well, don't go anywhere,’ she inclined her head to indicate the group around the fire, ‘we may need to get statements from all of you.’

‘Officer McNally already asked us to wait,’ the young woman said.

Andy must have responded to the call out, Gail thought as she and Holly set off across the field.

‘So even the average person in the street recognises this is a forensic kit,’ Holly teased once they were away from the construction workers.

‘I'm not sure Costa is what you would call average,’ Gail said, ‘I'm pretty sure he’s a member of the nerd squad. And offering to carry your bag. Really. What is he, teacher’s pet.’

‘I think he was trying to be gallant,’ Holly smiled.

‘Really, you should show him your abs and your biceps. Actually, on second thoughts don’t do that.’

Andy was standing with two rookies. They’d set up a series of cones around which the crime scene tape was loosely strung. Gail tried to remember the names of the rookies. She hadn't taken much notice when they were introduced at parade. Officer and Schneider. That's right. Gail had been amused by the thought of someone called Officer Officer. Part of a new batch Andy had the dubious responsibility of wangling. 

Natasha LaPaige and Wilson Wilson were waiting by a pile of rubble to the side of the excavator. Behind them was a pit about five feet deep and six feet wide, clearly freshly dug. Frankie was to the left of the excavator, speaking to two men. One was obviously the foreman - he was dressed like a construction worker but his clothes were unmarked, suggesting he didn't get his hands dirty but rather supervised the operation. The other guy must be the operator of the excavator, Gail surmised, if the amount of dust on his overalls was anything to go by. The excavator, its arm bent and bucket curled under, dwarfed the group like some sort of malevolent alien. It was an odd looking tableaux, made even stranger by the grey clouds hanging heavily behind them. Holly wouldn't be impressed if it started raining, Gail thought. Nothing worse than taking samples and moving a body, even if it was just bones, in a downpour.

As Gail and Holly approached, Frankie broke off from talking to the men and moved forward. ‘You came together,’ Frankie smirked as she reached them, her tone as well as her expression making clear the double entendre was deliberate. They were out of earshot of the others assembled behind them, which was a small blessing, Gail thought,

Gail raised an eyebrow ever so slightly, and then said in a sickly sweet voice, ‘Frankie, do you ever find it sad that you’re the only one amused by your school boy humor?’

‘Seems appropriate when you two are acting like hormone crazed teenage boys,’ Frankie said, ‘especially when it's quite clear what you two –‘

‘Can I take a look at the body,’ Holly interrupted

‘Yeah, right this way Doctor Stewart,’ Frankie gestured to the pit, suddenly all business.

Now it was Gail’s turn to smirk. Without fail, at work Frankie was completely professional with Holly. Except maybe that one time she told Holly she was dating the wrong detective. Holly had just returned to Toronto and Gail was AWOL after getting the call Steve was in the hospital. Gail didn't blame Frankie for trying it on – it was Holly after all and she was gorgeous and hot and smart and no doubt had been quite pleasant to Frankie because, unlike Gail, Holly was consistently nice to people. Then, of course, Frankie being Frankie couldn’t stop herself flirting, even though she knew she didn't stand a chance. More importantly, Gail knew Frankie didn't have a hope. 

Gail was struck anew by that sense of security she had with Holly. It was something she had never experienced in previous relationships, not fully anyway. Not even with Olivia who had been sweet and willing to love Gail with everything she had. It was a security that came as much from being so sure of her feelings for Holly as it did from her certainty about Holly’s love for her. 

Committing herself to Holly felt easy and natural. For once there was no need to question if it was right, to wonder if she were happy or if the other person found her wanting, as they invariably did, and was looking for something better or, at the very least, a way out. There was no compulsion to test or even sabotage, to poke at the relationship like you might a bear with a stick. No, Gail did not want to do any of these things because quite simply Holly loved her and she loved her back and that was enough. Still, Frankie was right. Gail and Holly had been acting like hormone-crazed teenagers. Then this talk of babies. That had come out of left field. Something was definitely up with Holly. 

‘Lucky for us the excavator operator spotted the bones straight away and stopped digging,’ Frankie was saying.

‘He the guy standing with the foreman?’ Gail asked.

‘Yeah,’ Frankie nodded.

‘What is the pit for?’

‘It the very start of the underground car park.’

Gail moved forward and peered into pit to get a better look at the skeleton. Only the layers of earth directly above it had been removed, leaving the remains largely undisturbed. Had the excavator gone even an inch deeper, the bones would have been scattered. Roughly half of the skeleton was still buried, but Gail could make out the skull, part of the rib cage, an arm, and a leg twisted at a weird angle. 

‘Any chance you can give us a rough idea of when the victim was killed?’ Frankie asked Holly.

‘A while ago,’ Holly said dryly. She was doing her own survey of the pit. Gail guessed she’d already be deciding on the best way to excavate the bones and noting anything unusual. First impressions of crime scenes could sometimes provide valuable clues Holly had once explained.

‘You can’t rush the science, Anderson. You should know that,’ Gail grinned.

‘I have a feeling this is going to be drawn out,’ Frankie scowled.

‘When it comes to skeletal remains, everything takes longer,’ Holly said, ‘unless our victim was buried with a driver’s licence we’ll need to go through a fairly complicated process of identification. It may be days or even weeks before we get answers. We better get a start. It looks like we’re in for rain.’

By this stage Natasha and Wilson and the crime scene tech, a guy called Ray, had joined them.  
Without saying a word, Holly and the other three started suiting up in protective clothing and booties. Such was their synchronisation, it was almost as if it were choreographed. Geez, did they have a special nerd signal she missed, Gail wondered.

‘Did anyone touch the bones or get into the pit?’ Holly turned back to Frankie.

‘No,’ the foreman answered, ‘Costa, one of the guys who works here took a closer look to make sure they were human, but he didn’t go too close. We didn't want to call you guys for no reason.’

‘Costa?’ Gail asked, ‘why Costa?’ The skeleton was largely intact. Even a five year old would have recognised the bones as human

‘I dunno, he just knows things. Reads a lot. Watches documentaries. Some of the others call him the Professor. When he confirmed the bones were human, he told us to keep clear. Said it was a crime scene.’

‘Sensible,’ Holly said. ‘What was in this spot before you levelled it?’

‘Mainly scrub. It was on the edge of the field. Brambles, some stunted trees. We removed it from the site yesterday.’

Holly nodded. She passed the forensic kit to Natasha, who was already in the pit, and then followed. 

‘So you’ve just started construction? ‘Gail asked the foreman, whose name was Dave. Frankie had stepped in to do a quick round of introductions.

‘Yeah. This is only our third day on the site. The project is already behind because of a delay in approvals. I guess this will hold us up even more,’ Dave sighed.

‘Afraid so,’ Gail nodded, ‘what was here before?’

‘A club of some sort. You would have seen the clubhouse on the way in. It. Hasn't been used for ten years or so.’

‘What sort of club?’ Frankie asked.

‘Not sure,’ Dave shrugged.

‘Have you been in the clubhouse?’

Nah. It's slated for demolition. I’ve been told it's a mess inside.’

‘So VisCom is the developer,’ Gail said, ‘I saw the sign out front.’

‘Yeah.’

‘How long have VisCom owed this land?’

‘Two years maybe, head office could tell you.’

‘And before that?’

‘The club I guess, but it's been vacant for years. There were some issues over rezoning it as residential. When the club folded, people in the neighbourhood wanted it kept as recreational space but you can't stop progress,’ Dave shrugged again.

‘And urban infill is all the rage these days,’ Gail said wryly.

‘I guess,’ Dave said noncommittally. He didn’t strike Gail as someone who would bother to think too deeply about anything.

Byron the excavator operator didn't have much to add. He shut off the machine as soon as he saw the bones and radioed Dave who was by the clubhouse. The foreman and several of the construction crew, including Costa, came to take a look. Once Costa identified the bones as human, Dave called the police.

Frankie and Gail took Andy with them to interview the rest of the crew, leaving Holly and her team to get to work. While Ray set about photographing the scene, Holly took detailed notes, documenting the topography and geology and making a rough sketch of the grave and its position in relation to the clubhouse and other markers in the immediate vicinity. She also made a passable drawing of the skeleton being especially careful to record the arrangement of the limbs. 

The levelling of the entire site had removed any vegetation on or near the grave that a forensic biologist could use to determine the post-mortem interval. The time it took for the plants to grow to their current size could give a fair idea of when the body was buried. It was likely VisCom’s surveyor took photos of the site prior to the development application. She made a note to ask the foreman. Depending on how long VisCom took to get approval to build, the photos may be dated but still it was better than nothing.

Holly hadn’t been exaggerating when she told Frankie that when it came to skeletal remains everything took longer. Extracting the other half of the skeleton would be a painstakingly slow process. Using brushes and dental picks, they would have to gently remove the soil from around the bones. Then each bone would be identified, labelled and securely packed for transportation back to the morgue. They’d need to take soil samples too. Every step would be photographed and documented. From experience, Holly knew it would take hours. 

In fact, they were unlikely to get away before nightfall. She sighed. It was definitely not how she envisaged ending her afternoon. It was certainly a marked contrast to how it began. Holly allowed herself a little smile as just for the briefest of moments she recalled Gail stretched out before her on the bed, with her perfect creamy white skin and those red pouty lips so kissable, and the desire in her eyes unmistakable. Holly shook her head to clear it. Now was definitely not the time to be thinking of Gail naked. And she absolutely had to banish the thought that a little over an hour ago she was straddling Gail, riding her fingers, while Gail’s other hand cupped her ass. Nor should she picture the way Gail bit her lip so seductively the more worked up Holly became. 

Focus, Holly told herself sternly. It was enough to switch her into work mode. She’d always had the ability to compartmentalise when needed. It was one of the things that made her able to work with the dead. Although, Holly had to admit she wasn't doing so well lately when it came to compartmentalising Gail and her job as a detective. The dangers Gail had or might yet encounter seemed to always hover, casting a shadow over everything Holly did. Even when Holly believed herself to be immersed in an activity or was simply waiting at the traffic lights, all of a sudden she'd become aware of the leaden feeling in her stomach. The thing she couldn't banish. The dead weight of fear that all this, the life she'd made with Gail, the love they shared and the future they imagined, could be snatched away. On an intellectual level, Holly knew worrying did no good but still she couldn't help herself. It made her want to keep Gail close. Not that she wanted to smother Gail. Just be with her. They’d been having a lot of sex, which Holly was aware was mainly her doing. Sex had always been something they were good at. Increasingly it was the one place where thoughts of the risks inherent in Gail’s job didn't invade Holly’s consciousness. 

Holly sent Wilson to get the van. Easier to have it nearby to transfer the skeletal remains. Then she and Natasha set to work digging up the area around the still buried bones to create a level excavation site. They’d only be at it for about ten minutes when Holly overheard the two rookies, who’d been left to guard the scene, talking. Holly hadn't taken much notice of them, except to register they were standing near the pile of rubble. It was the mention of Gail’s name, or rather Peck, that made Holly tune into their conversation.

‘Have you worked with Detective Peck before?’ one of the rookies asked. He was slouching with thumbs hooked in his belt, looking like an over-sized child playing dress-ups. His cheeks still had a hint of pre-pubescent baby fat, like he hadn't quite grown into being an adult.

‘Nuh,’ said the other rookie, ‘she’s been on leave or something.’

Yep, Gail was on leave all right, Holly thought, because she'd almost died saving Holly from drowning when two maniacs forced their car off the road. Maniacs who weren’t content to quit when the car went under ¬¬– no, they were waiting on the shore with a sword, intent on making sure the job was done. The Police Department had insisted Gail take the time off. It had resulted in two mandatory visits to the psychologist. One a department shrink, the other Gail’s own doctor and, in that instance, Gail went of her own volition. She got the all clear, of course. Gail was resilient. Holly knew that. It hadn't stopped the nightmares though. It made sense. A new trauma made Gail relive the old ones. She had quite a cast of demons now, Holly thought ruefully.

Sharing a bed with Gail made it impossible not to notice. Gail would wake crying out in terror or even frustration, other times her body was hot and her t-shirt sweat damp. Each time, Holly would soothe Gail, stroking her back gently or holding her close. Occasionally, Gail would tell her about the nightmares. It became Perick ramming the car into the lake or Francine standing on the shore with the sword, and sometimes in the dream they morphed from one demon into another, and Gail wasn't sure if this made the nightmare more frightening or simply ridiculous. 

‘Yeah, maybe she needed a break from being such a hardass,’ the baby-faced rookie laughed at his own joke. From where she was, Holly could make out the nametag on his jacket. Officer. Officer Officer. It might be funny, if he wasn't such a dick.

‘I haven't had a lot to do with her,’ the other officer shrugged, clearly reluctant to be drawn any further into the conversation. 

‘I've heard she’s called the Ice Queen.’

‘Yeah? Maybe it’s because she’s hot’

‘What d’ya mean?’

‘Sometimes people just make that assumption, you know, that if you're hot you’ll be stuck-up.’

‘Pretty safe assumption here. Hot but a bitch. Word is her father and brother were kicked off the force for corruption. I wouldn't be surprised if she was on the take,’ Officer Officer tapped his nose.

From her position crouched by the bones, Holly felt herself bristle. She had started to straighten up when Natasha put a hand on her arm and said, ‘I got this.’

Holly looked at her gratefully. It would hardly do to have the deputy chief of forensics tearing strips off a rookie, and she knew if she confronted Officer she wouldn't be able to stop herself from doing just that and possibly worse. In fact, she really didn't have the authority to reprimand a police officer except if they compromised a crime scene or tampered with or were careless with evidence. Even then it would be done through someone like Oliver. Official channels rather than letting fly.

Hauling herself out of the pit, Natasha strode over to the rookies. ‘I imagine you boys would have signed a code of conduct when you joined the force,’ she said evenly.

‘Yeah, what's the problem?’ Officer said, with an edge of belligerence.

‘Well, it's not exactly professional to gossip about a superior officer, particularly a highly decorated one, and in earshot of your colleagues from forensics.’

‘Just shootin’ the breeze,’ Officer crossed his arms over his chest and regarded Natasha stonily, ‘shop talk. No harm meant.’

‘Yeah,’ Natasha said, not allowing Officer’s expression or manner to deter her, ‘a word of advice, stick to safer topics like the weather or sport. Detective Peck is well regarded by the forensics department. You might want to think on that because one day you’re bound to have a case that requires our help and in forensics we have long memories ’

‘You’re blowing this out of proportion,’ Officer said, ‘we were just, you know, kidding around.’

‘Accusing a fellow officer of corruption doesn't sound like kidding to me. As a police officer, you must be aware you need be certain of the facts before making allegations.’

‘Look it wasn't serious,’ Officer held up his hands in a placatory gesture, ‘from here on we’ll only say nice things about Detective Ice Qu- I mean Peck.’

‘Hey listen, we’re sorry,’ the other rookie said hurriedly. He, at least, had the decency to look contrite. ‘It was a stupid thing to say. It won't happen again.’

Natasha nodded but, as she turned to go, Holly could swear Officer mumbled something about Peck having a special relationship with forensics, although he couldn't imagine anyone wanting a piece of the Ice Queen no matter how hot she was. Then the other rookie hissed ‘shut up, man.’

‘Thanks,’ Holly said quietly when Natasha returned to the pit, ‘I don't think I could have remained as composed as you.’

‘That guy might be baby-faced but he’s a meathead. Will you tell Gail, um Detective Peck?’ Natasha asked.

‘Ah,’ Holly blew out a breath,’ I guess I'll have to.’ She really didn't want to tell Gail that once again someone was dumping on her for being a Peck, and not just anyone, but a fellow officer from 15, who was supposed to have Gail’s back. Gail hated that she was still marked out by the stigma of corruption. Long ago she became resigned to the fact that regardless of what she achieved the whispers followed her. Even now, three years down the track, there remained people on the force who refused to work with her, or at the very least made their reluctance known. 

‘No matter what I do’, Gail told Holly in an unguarded moment, ‘I always have to prove myself to someone - my parents, my rookie class and now half the Toronto police force.’ Holly wouldn't blame Gail if it made her want to give up, but instead it drove her to work harder and to see her therapist regularly, ‘mainly so you can tolerate being in a relationship with me,’ Gail had half joked. Holly had given Gail that crooked smile and teased ‘bad news for you, Peck, even if you stop seeing Leslie, I'm here to stay.’

Later, when they lay wrapped around each other in bed, the duvet pulled tight against the chill night air, the room so dark she couldn't make out Gail’s face, Holly had whispered, ‘you don't have to prove anything to me, Gail,’ and Gail had hugged her closer and said, ‘I know.’ Quite simply Holly’s belief in Gail was fierce and unshakable, and Holly was quite prepared to take on anyone who would doubt her. 

Holly sighed. Yep, she would have to talk to Gail about this, but first she needed to do something about Officer. Should she mention it to Andy? Somehow, despite Andy’s loyalty to Gail, Holly doubted she'd be tough enough with the rookie. Oliver. Now that was an idea. Holly could tell Oliver. He was a legend, Gail had informed Holly, and like Holly, he also wasn't really people. Maybe he could have a word to Officer Officer. Yep, that was a good plan. Then she could tell Gail that Oliver was handling it.

The construction crew didn't have anything new to add to Byron and Dave’s account. They’d all been working near the clubhouse and only became aware of the find when Byron radioed Dave.

‘Mind if we take a look inside the clubhouse?’ Frankie asked.

‘Sure,’ Dave said, ‘we’re going to demolish it anyway.’

The door was bordered up so Dave used a well-aimed boot to open it. 

‘Skills like that, you should be on the force,’ Gail joked.

‘I did consider it,’ Dave said, ‘but I got in some trouble in my teens. Wasn't sure how that would go down.’

‘Yeah, what sort of trouble?’ Frankie asked.

‘Teenage rebellion. Stupid stuff. Underage drinking. Shoplifting. Me and some friends took a car for a joyride. I think my parents despaired of me ever making good, but when you're that age you think you're invisible.’

The clubhouse was basic. It consisted of a large rectangular room with a kitchenette and bathroom on one end. Kids or squatters had obviously broken in at some point. Where the walls weren't covered in graffiti, holes had been punched into the flimsy board. There were signs t a fire had been lit in the center of the room, leaving the floorboards blackened. In the tiny bathroom, the seat was missing from the toilet and the bowl was crammed with cans and bottles. The sink had been pulled clean off the wall. Rat droppings littered the kitchen benches, which were also streaked with brown stains Gail didn't want to think to hard about.

‘It's a mess,’ Dave shrugged.

There was nothing to indicate what kind of club it had been. No trophies left behind. No posters on the wall or even a tell-tale piece of sporting equipment.

‘So you have no idea what kind of club this was,’ Gail said to Dave.

‘Nah. Head office would probably know.’ Shrugging and punting things off to head office seemed to be Dave’s favourite thing.

‘It was an archery club,’ Costa said from the doorway. He'd appeared so quietly none of them noticed him until he spoke. Now all three turned to regard him.

‘Ah, that's why the development is called the Archer,’ Gail said.

‘Yep, makes sense,’ Costa said, coming into the room, even though no one had invited him. There was something proprietorial about the way he moved that annoyed Gail. That and a certain keenness.

‘How did you know about the club?’ Frankie asked.

‘I grew up around here. My parents still live about ten minutes away.’

‘Yeah, so ever hear any rumours about the club?’ Frankie asked.

‘What d’ya mean?’ Costa scratched the side of his face, the bristles on cheek making an unpleasant rasping noise.

‘Oh, I don't know. Bad blood between club members. Threats of murder. Club members disappearing. That sort of thing,’ Gail said perhaps a little too acerbically.

‘We’re talking archery, not the Hell’s Angels,’ Costa said.

Gail arched an eyebrow. 

‘Anyway I wasn't involved in the club,’ Costa said like that was an end to the matter.

‘Wasn't any neighborhood gossip about goings on at the club?’ Gail asked.

‘Yeah, sure detective,’ Costa said sarcastically, ‘everyone used to talk about the body buried here.’

The words ‘wise guy’ were forming on Gail’s lips but, before she could utter them, Frankie spoke up.

‘If you do remember anything, Mr,’ Frankie paused, her eyebrows raised in question. 

‘Dukas. Costa Dukas.’

‘Mr Dukas, here’s my card,’ Frankie held it out.

Costa took the card, examining it for a moment before shoving it in his back pocket.

‘So you’re in charge of this investigation?’ He asked Frankie, who nodded in confirmation. ‘So I guess you’ll need a forensic anthropologist to identify those bones.’ He jerked his thumb to indicate the site outside. His overeagerness had returned and Gail didn't like it. What was it about death that was getting him so excited? Costa could just be a nerd, she supposed. One of those guys whose idea of a great Saturday night was to watch a National Geographic documentary on the secrets of the body farm.

‘Probably,’ Frankie said off handedly.

'Well, how else will you be able to determine the age of the victim? Your ordinary forensic pathologist doesn't have that expertise.’

Well now, Gail thought, that's were you are wrong Mr Costa Dukas. Holly being the nerd that she was hadn't been content with just one doctorate. Oh no, she and her big brain signed up for the double whammy – forensic pathology and anthropology. It had nearly killed her, Holly admitted to Gail. During those years she’d had absolutely no social life, apart from when Lisa and Rachel would stage an intervention and drag her out for a drink. Still Holly had loved every nerdy minute of it. Gail wasn't going to share that with Costa. Nor would she inform him that the forensic department also had a forensic anthropologist on staff, who divided his time between the morgue and the university, and who Holly would no doubt call upon for this case.

‘And a forensic anthropologist can determine the post morgen interval,’ Costa continued exuberantly and in the tone of a know it all, or so it sounded to Gail. ‘Of course there are several methods for doing that. You could measure the nitrogen levels in the bones, or use ultraviolet light, and of course measure for radioactive isotopes. Unless the body was put there before the 1950s.’

‘Yep,’ Frankie said uncertainly, clearly not being all that familiar with how time of death was established when it came to skeletal remains but not wanting to encourage Costa to go into a more detailed explanation. Really, the guy was obnoxious, Gail decided, and he probably had a screw loose.

Gail and Frankie left for the station soon after. Holly and her team were making slow but steady progress. She hoped to have all the bones bagged by nightfall. Putting them back together would have to wait until morning. ‘I should have some more for you tomorrow, but no point waiting around detectives,’ Holly said.

As she and Frankie turned to go, Gail nodded at the two rookies. ‘The glamour of being in uniform,’ she said sympathetically. At least she thought it was sympathetic but one of the rookies, the baby-faced one, jerked his head back like she’d smacked him in the face or something. ‘You know, they never tell you about all the standing around when you sign up,’ she tried again.

‘Uh, yeah,’ the other rookie, the one without the baby face, forced a laugh.

Gail screwed up her face. This was altogether weird.

'Couldn't pay me anything to get back in uniform,’ Frankie said, her tone nowhere near as understanding as Gail’s had been.

The rookies didn't respond but looked at Gail and Frankie gormlessly. It made Gail think the force had really scrapped the bottom of the barrel when they'd recruited these two.

.............................................................

 

‘So I should probably give you an official warning,’ Frankie said once they were in the car, ‘as your supervisor.’

‘What the hell?’ Gail screwed up her face. She thought back through the interviews with the construction workers. Had she said something out of line? Sure, she'd been a little irritable with Costa but he was so over-excited he probably didn't even notice. In fact, such was his enthusiasm Gail had started to wonder if he was related to Chloe.

‘The unexplained absences,’ Frankie said, clearly uncomfortable at having to bring this up with Gail.

‘Oh,’ Gail shifted in her seat, suddenly as awkward as Frankie, ‘I'm using my overtime.’

‘That's not the point. If you want to take time off you need to clear it first. What if, just like today, we get a case.’

‘Yeah, yeah. You’re right. It won't happen again.’ Gail pursed her lips and stared out the passenger window. Without meaning to, she sighed heavily.

‘What’s going on Gail? I mean I can guess what you and Holly were doing this afternoon but,’ Frankie trailed off.

‘Oh shit,’ Gail groaned, ‘that means Holly’s interns would have figured it out too.’

‘Nah. I don’t think anyone else picked up on it, but still what is going on?’

Gail turned her head to face Frankie, sighing again. ‘It's just. God, I don't know how to explain. It's kind of a non-problem but maybe it’s symptomatic of, you know, a bigger problem. Maybe I need to do something about it. Or maybe it’s not even much of a deal.’

‘Not following you Peck.’

‘Okay, this is going to sound weird.’

‘Weirder than this conversation to date,’ Frankie said.

Gail rolled her eyes, then jutted out her chin. ‘Okay, ever since Holly and I ended up in the lake, she wants to have sex.’ Gail broke off, her eyes widening almost comically as she realized what she had just revealed to Frankie.

‘And that's a problem?’ Frankie arched an eyebrow.

‘God no! Not the actual sex. It's just Holly wants to have sex kinda all the time.’

‘Okay. What do you mean by all the time? Given you two usually can't keep your hands off each other outside of work, I get the impression you have sex a helluva a lot. So are we talking a lot lot.’

Gail nodded. ‘Yep. And this afternoon she mentioned babies.’

‘Holly does know she can't knock you up,’ Frankie quipped.

‘Ha ha, very funny Anderson.’

‘Mortality, that's what it is. Your mother once told me sex is a normal reaction to a near death experience.’

‘Really, you’re quoting Elaine now,’ Gail scowled.

‘The point is maybe Holly’s using sex as a way to confirm you’re both still very much alive.’ Frankie ignored Gail’s comment.

‘And the baby talk?’

‘We live on through our children or so they say. Not sure my parents would take heart from that. But in Holly’s case, maybe it's a reaction to coming face to face with her own and your mortality. Have you spoken to Holly about it?’

‘No, I just,’ Gail stopped and screwed up her face again.

‘You just like getting laid,’ Frankie teased.

‘No, no! I mean I do but I just thought this current, um, state of things wouldn't last. Anyway what if I've got it all wrong? What if I'm blowing this out of proportion? It’s very hard to resist all this hotness, right,’ Gail gestured to herself and grinned mischievously, and then rolled her eyes. ‘Oh shit. Who am I kidding? I shouldn't even be talking to you about this, Frankie.’

‘Why not? We’re friends. Isn't this what friends do?’ Even as she said it, Frankie looked a little surprised, ‘you know, share stuff.’

‘Yeah, I guess,’ Gail said, not looking entirely convinced, ‘is it weird talking about this when we used to have sex?’

‘Nope. I don't think about you like that anymore. No offence.’

‘None taken,’ Gail said, ‘I feel the same way about you. In fact, I find it hard to even remember having sex with you.’

‘Way to boost a girl’s ego.’ Even though Frankie curled her lip, she looked untroubled. ‘Actually the weird thing for me is being friends with someone I used to sleep with. Now that's a first.’

It was true, Gail realized. Frankie never remained friends with exes or whatever it was she and Gail had been to each other. ‘Fuck buddies,’ Holly had surmised a little bitterly when she first heard about Gail and Frankie. Yet, it had been more than that. They looked out for each other. Still did. In some ways, the sex had been just that. An extension of that regard, but also convenient and easy, with no messy emotions, no desire for a commitment beyond their loose arrangement. At least that's what Gail thought. 

It never would have worked with Frankie. In many ways they were too alike. These days Holly found it amusing that Gail and Frankie had ever had a thing. More than once she’d teased Gail about dating herself, and Gail had responded with mock outrage, ‘I'm not nearly as bitter and twisted as Anderson, and anyway we didn't exactly date.’ Still, the arrangement had allowed Gail to maintain a kind of holding pattern at a time when moving on from Holly had proved impossible. She’d fallen so hard for Holly - the love of her life - it didn't leave room for anyone else. Gail would always be grateful to Frankie for giving her that space. 

‘Frankie, if you’re right about Holly then it's my fault.’

‘Why?’

‘My job. I've put Holly through a lot.’

‘Yeah, well she’s the one with the crazy stalker.’

‘True, but luckily Francine seems to have disappeared. Fiona Vincent thinks she's left the country.’

‘Good riddance.’

Gail laughed hollowly. ‘But, yeah it's been an eventful twelve months. I can see why Holly’s affected by it. I've been cut with a knife, drugged, had a gun pointed at my head and that was even before the Gimlets happened along. Holly must think I'm cursed. Plenty of cops get to retirement without ever having a weapon pulled on them.’

‘I guess. Look at it this way. Maybe you've had your quota of drama and things will settle down now. Then Holly will realize you’re destined to grow old and cranky with her.’

‘I can't see Holly being cranky.’

‘I wasn’t referring to her. At least this case will keep Holly busy so that might give you some, ah,’ Frankie paused and smirked, ‘relief.’

‘Such a comedian,’ Gail rolled her eyes once again.

‘Unless Holly decides that instead of putting our John or Jane Doe back together she’d rather spend her time in the lab jumping your bones,’ Frankie snickered, clearly pleased with her joke. ‘Actually, have you ever done the horizontal tango in the morgue?’

‘Horizontal tango,’ Gail scoffed, ‘what kind of lame ass expression is that? Anderson, you’ve been spending way too much time around Chloe and Dov.’

‘Well have you?’ Frankie persisted, not the least put off by Gail’s derision. 

‘Have I what?’

‘You know, done it at the morgue.’

Damn if Gail didn’t begin to redden.

‘You so have Peck.’

‘No way! Not in the labs where they cut up dead bodies. Eww. Not really conducive, not to mention unhygienic,’ Gail protested. ‘Anyway, that would be unprofessional,’ she added for good measure. She wasn't going to tell Frankie about that one time in Holly’s office. No the detective did not need to know about that. Gail was uncomfortably reminded every time she went into that office by the small stain on the couch that no amount of scrubbing would remove.

‘So not in a lab,’ Frankie mused. If she kept going, she was bound to figure out about the office, so Gail hurriedly interrupted.

‘How are you and Alannah doing?’ 

‘Subtle Peck,’ Frankie made a face but then said candidly, ‘I'm on probation.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail scoffed, ‘you on probation. That I can't believe.’

‘What's so funny? Alannah wants to make sure I'm serious. I don’t blame her for being cautious. I nearly blew it with her. Plus my fucked up family means I have some, ah, commitment issues,’ Frankie gave a self-deprecating shrug. 

‘Oh,’ Gail said, surprised by the rapid change in Frankie’s demeanour, which was now quite somber. ‘I thought everything was back on track after Valentine's Day. The way you were talking there was plenty of,’ Gail paused and raised her fingers to form air quotes, “horizontal tangoing,”’ she finished.

‘Well, yeah. Of course. You may have forgotten what it was like having sex with me, but let me tell you Peck I give-.’

‘Women the best sex of their lives. Yeah. Yeah. I'm surprised there’s room for Alannah in your relationship, given the size of your ego.’

‘Very amusing, ‘Frankie said, then twisted her mouth and blurted out, ‘she wants us to go to couples therapy.’

‘You agreed?’ Gail asked disbelievingly. Frankie hated seeing the department shrink almost as much, actually possibly more than Gail. She only ever went when ordered, and grumblingly. 

‘Therapy is horseshit. But I think it’s a deal breaker for Alannah.’

‘So go.’

‘Yeah, easier for you to say but I bet you wouldn't do it, Peck.’

‘Actually, I've been in therapy for the last two years. Not the department shrink. Someone else.’

‘Shit,’ Frankie said, clearly not expecting this admission, ‘why?’

‘Some pretty fucked up things have happened to me,’ Gail waved her hand about dismissively, ‘not that I'm trying to play the victim or make you feel sorry for me, but it's just shit that messes with my head. Seeing a therapist helps me deal with that shit. It means I function okay. I doubt I could be in a relationship with Holly if I hadn't worked on a few issues.’

‘Okay,’ Frankie said warily, ‘but couples therapy.’ The last bit was said incredulously.

‘If you love Alannah, if you really want to be with her, then you do what it takes. You may actually find therapy worthwhile.’ Despite her protestations to the contrary whenever Holly brought up the similarities between Gail and Frankie, Gail had to admit she did see something of herself in the way Frankie kept people at a distance, never letting them in too close. If she could get over herself to be in a relationship with Holly, Gail reasoned, then Frankie could do the same for Alannah.

‘That I very much doubt,’ Frankie scoffed, ’but hey, it’s good advice. I mean it won't kill me to go to therapy.’ Frankie stopped, all of a sudden looking extremely pained. ‘Oh shit, what if going to therapy means Alannah discovers how truly fucked up I am and decides it’s over. ’

‘Frankie,’ Gail said, the warning note in her voice undercut by genuine fondness, ‘you are over thinking this. Agreeing to go to therapy is half the battle won. You know, a sign of good faith. Anyway, I don’t think Alannah has any delusions about how fucked up you are.’

‘Ha ha. Who’s the comedian now Peck,’ Frankie said but she looked slightly relieved, making Gail think that maybe she’d said the right things to Frankie. Which was good because she was never quite sure what to say to people, no matter how close she was to them, in these kinds of circumstances.

…………………………………………………………………………

Chloe and Dov were heading out of 15 as Gail and Frankie came into the building.

‘Hey, have you two finished with that investigation Nash had you working on?’ Frankie asked.

‘Yeah, we made the arrests today,’ Dov said, ‘that’s four less meth labs in the city.’

‘Good work. I might need you two on this case Gail and I picked up. Could be homicide.’

‘Could be?’ Chloe asked.

‘All we’ve got at the moment is a skeleton. Found on a building site. No id. We won’t even know if the remains are male or female until Dr Stewart puts them back together tomorrow.’

‘Sounds intriguing,’ Dov said, ‘I’m in if Oliver is okay with that.’

‘Good, but I have to warn you it’s not intriguing, it’s going to be a giant pain in the ass.’

‘Way to sell our case,’ Gail said sarcastically.

‘Count me in too,’ Chloe said cheerfully, ‘I haven’t worked with Detectives Grumpy and Grumpier since the Gimlet case.’

‘Missing me?’ Gail raised an eyebrow, ‘so sweet. Wait, which one of us is the grumpier one.’

‘Not telling,’ Chloe smiled sweetly.

‘It has to be Anderson, right.’

‘I think it depends on the day,’ Dov said knowingly, ‘or even the hour.’

‘No one asked you, Dork King.’ Gail sniped, somehow managing to look impertinent and sanctimonious all at once.

‘Okay, I'm definitely going to be much more than grumpy if you two don't stop squabbling,’ Frankie said, ‘I'm going to find Oliver. Set things up for the investigation. Try not to kill one another while I’m gone, children.’

As they watched Frankie make her way up the corridor, Gail said brightly, ‘oh she’s definitely the grumpier one.’

‘You think?’ Dov challenged.

‘Enough. Both of you,’ Chloe held up her hands. 

Gail rolled her eyes and Dov looked at her sulkily. It was a game they played. Gail knew if push came to shove Dov would be there for her. Just like she’d always have his back. Well, unless he did something to hurt Chloe. Then she might have to consider inflicting actual violence on him, maybe of the kind that would make it very difficult for him to father children.

‘Gail, is it okay if we stop by on the way home to pick up the last of my boxes,’ Chloe asked.

‘Sure,’ Gail nodded, completely dropping the posturing she’d affected for Dov. ‘I’ll probably be tied up here for awhile but you’ve still got the key.’ 

When Chloe moved in with Dov, Gail had insisted she keep a key to the Cabbage Town house. ‘Just in case,’ she’d said with a shy twist to her mouth. When Chloe didn’t respond but looked at her inquiringly, Gail had continued in a rush, ‘you know if it doesn’t work out or the Dork King becomes insufferable, even if you just need a few days.’ Chloe had immediately enveloped her in a hug which had left Gail spluttering and red faced, and protesting ‘Jesus, Princess if I'd known that's how you were going to react I never would have told you to keep the key.’ 

Chloe had moved out a few weeks after the Gimlet case was wrapped up. Gail suspected she’d hung around a little longer than planned to make sure Holly and Gail were okay after the accident and because Francine was still on the loose. For Chloe making sure they were alright consisted of producing hearty meals and cups of tea, and finding happy films for Gail and Holly to watch, and filling any silences with bubbly and incessant chatter, and every night double-checking the house was locked. In some ways, it made Gail happy to see the back of Chloe but a part of her couldn't deny how much of a friend Chloe had become, a staunch ally and defender, and actually someone Gail didn't object to having around. Well, most of the time anyway. When she offered to give Gail a foot massage, Gail knew it was time for Chloe to go. 

During that first week after Gail and Holly were released from the hospital, Chloe brought news that Damien Gimlet had surfaced. He’d gone into hiding after John Brierly’s death, suspecting his father and stepmother were responsible and fearing he’d be next. ‘He didn't think to come to the police?’ Gail asked incredulously. Chloe had explained Damien didn't have any proof and he believed his father wouldn't hesitate to frame him. Frank Gimlet was a respected businessman and Damien lived in a tent in Victoria Park. ‘Who were the police likely to believe?’ Damien asked Chloe. Gail had made a face. ‘Never that maniac Gimlet,’ she said, placing her hand on Holly’s and giving it a reassuring squeeze when Holly shuddered just slightly. When Gail had finally revealed that Gimlet threatened to behead her, Holly had visibly paled and pulled Gail to her quite forcibly and held her tight for some minutes without speaking. ‘Damien didn't know about your spidey sense,’ Chloe said blithely, failing to notice the effect Frank Gimlet’s name had had on Holly.

By the time Gail arrived home, some hours had passed. Oliver had agreed to Frankie’s request to put Chloe and Dov on the investigation. He also offered up Anna Robinson and Andy and the two rookies she was supposed to be ‘knocking some sense into.’ Oliver had sighed as he said that, and then added, ‘actually it might do them some good to hang around you two for awhile.’ Gail asked, a little tersely, what he meant exactly. ‘Your exemplary professionalism, my petulant Peck,’ Oliver reassured her hastily, ‘and you won't mollycoddle them. I have the very distinct feeling Officer and Walinsky require more than Andy’s kid gloves if they are to be moulded into productive officers of the law.’ 

After that, Frankie had put a call through to VisCom. Tim Avanti, the CEO, was unavailable until morning. In fact, he suggested Frankie and Gail come to the VisCom headquarters for a breakfast meeting at 7am. ‘How the other half live,’ Gail had snarked, ‘let's hope he serves decent coffee.’ After that there wasn't much else they could do until morning. Holly had sent a message saying she had finished up at the crime scene, ‘and thank god because it has just started to rain,’ and should be home in an hour or so.

Gail found the front door unlocked. Uncharacteristically careless of Chloe, she thought as she flicked the switch for the hallway light, and then decided to blame Dov. In the kitchen, she set to work making dinner. She knew Holly would be tired and achey and even a little cranky after excavating the bones. Ten minutes after Holly messaged to say she was on her way home, Gail went upstairs to run a bath for her, putting in some vanilla bath salts she knew Holly liked. She was back downstairs and checking on the dinner when Holly arrived home. 

'I've run you a bath and made dinner,’ Gail said, smiling sympathetically at the sight of Holly. She looked exhausted, and a little grimy, even though she’d been wearing a protective suit. 

‘You are the best girlfriend ever,’ Holly said, looping her arms around Gail’s neck and giving her a soft kiss on the lips, ‘has anyone told you that?’

‘Only you,’ Gail replied to what was now a well-worn routine.

‘Yeah, the others were idiots.’

‘But you’re the only one that matters,’ Gail kissed Holly.

'I am so stiff,' Holly said, ‘and just-‘

‘Bone tired,’ Gail quipped.

‘Ha ha,’ Holly gave Gail that crooked half smile. Then she froze and dropped her arms from around Gail’s neck.

‘What is it?’ Gail took a step back.

‘The photos,’ Holly pointed to the refrigerator. She was in the habit of sticking up photos haphazardly on the refrigerator door. Snapshots of their life. Gail and Holly together, on holiday, out to dinner with Holly’s parents, at Christmas, with Rachel and even Lisa and the gang from 15, their bright smiles and that of their friends attesting to a happiness Gail never imagined she’d be allowed. ‘Why have all your eyes been cut out?’

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, tell me what think!


	44. Forty-four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters…
> 
> Apologies for taking so long to update. Starting a new job and having to learn all sorts of new things is fun but exhausting. I haven’t had the headspace or time to write, especially as I’m doing quite a bit of writing and research in the new job. Most nights, I write two lines and fall asleep…which means this chapter may be a little disjointed.
> 
> For those reading Elusive as well, I’ll update it next, hopefully a little faster!
> 
> Thanks as always for your responses, for subscribing, and bookmarking, and for the kudos, and for reading. I so love getting your comments and hearing what you think.
> 
> Apologies for mistakes. Hope you enjoy.

…………………………………………………………………………………..

The kitchen was getting crowded. Frankie was there, as were Chloe and Dov. At some point Fiona Vincent turned up with Lisa in tow, and then Alannah came over to see if Holly and Gail were okay. She was a worrier, just like Holly, Gail realized. She wondered how that sat with Frankie. Chris and Anna Robinson stood by the door, hands loosely behind their backs, not quite able to relax the police stance. Occasionally their radios would burst to life with messages from dispatch. Rodney had been and gone, taking the photos with him and dusting the refrigerator for fingerprints.

When Gail called Frankie after discovering the mutilated photographs, the detective told her to sit tight and wait for the uniforms to do a sweep of the house. Gail decided to take that as friendly advice rather than an order. After Frankie rang off, she selected a gun from the gun safe and searched her home from top to bottom.

‘As if,’ Gail muttered, ‘if Francine’s still here, I’m not waiting around for the uniforms.’ 

Holly went with Gail. She didn’t say much as they moved from room to room, and Gail felt a pang at how rattled Holly was. There was no sign of Francine of course. Gail hadn’t expected to find her. Still, the search seemed to reassure Holly. Back downstairs, she retrieved her forensic kit from where she’d stowed it by the front door.

‘What are you doing with that?’ Gail asked.

‘Dusting for fingerprints. Unless she was wearing gloves, Francine’s prints will be all over the photos and possibly the refrigerator.’

‘Holly,’ Gail made a sympathetic face, ‘someone from your office can do that.’

‘But,’ Holly began.

‘It wouldn’t hold up in court¬—we’re the victims here, we can’t collect evidence.’

‘Victims,’ Holly said quietly and then blew out a breath, ‘I don’t see myself as a victim.’

Before Gail could reply, Frankie was knocking on the front door much more forcefully than she needed to, in Gail’s opinion anyway.

‘Alight, alright, hold on,’ she grumbled as the knocking continued. Yanking open the door, Gail noticed a squad car had pulled up and Anna Robinson and Chris were getting out of it.

‘I’ve scoured the house,’ Gail said by way of greeting Frankie, ‘no Francine, so you’re wasting Chris and Anna’s time.’ She nodded in the direction of the two officers. .

‘Humour me Peck,’ Frankie said and Gail scowled.

‘You two okay,’ Chris asked Gail and Holly as he came into the house. He looked very much like he wanted to sweep Gail up in a bear hug, but was too well trained to give into that impulse, in fact knew from bitter experience the consequences of such behaviour. Instead, he hovered next to Gail, shuffling his feet awkwardly, the action accentuating his large frame.

‘Dandy,’ Gail replied sarcastically, ‘and don’t try and touch me.’

‘Do you think it was Francine or,’ Chris trailed off, faltering under Gail’s gaze.

‘Well yeah,’ Gail snapped, her tone and expression making it clear she thought the question stupid, ‘just how many psychos do you think are after Holly and me.’

‘It’s not, I didn’t mean,’ Chris stammered and swallowed.

He looked like a kicked puppy and Gail felt bad for snapping at him. She knew he cared. In fact, Gail was fairly certain Chris would do just about anything for her. She had a flash of that time Ford was targeting 15 and Chris had reassured Steve he had Gail’s back. ‘Always have, always will,’ he said like he meant it. The way Frank had spoken to them, it was a rallying cry as if they were going into battle. Holly’s appearance—her wanting to lay eyes on Gail, to take a few minutes—had only intensified that dread sense, like Holly was making that last desperate goodbye before Gail headed into war. 

Gail should have realized then from the way you could read Holly’s anxiety like it was a neon sign on her forehead how much she cared. Gail wasn’t used to mattering so much to anyone. The intensity and unfamiliarity of it had momentarily disconcerted her, particularly coming mere hours after she and Holly had kissed in the interrogation room. And Gail couldn’t afford to be distracted by it, couldn’t allow people like Chris, who she thought knew nothing of her feelings for Holly, to be distracted by it. She had to focus on the task ahead. 

It hadn’t occurred to Gail that Holly might interpret her distance as a reluctance to publicly admit they were becoming a thing, or think Gail might regret kissing her, overwhelmed by the enormity of falling for a woman, because none of those things were true. If anything overwhelmed Gail, it was the depth of Holly’s concern. Holly later confessed that after leaving the station she was racked by worry she’d been too clingy. But having finally acted on their attraction—no it was more than attraction, on the ridiculously strong pull between them—Holly feared she may never see Gail again. Like a soldier headed off for war. It was a reasonable fear. There was, after all, a maniac on the loose, literally gunning for 15. 

Gail had read that in war and times of extreme crisis, people often behaved out of character, were rash even, the social disruption making them less constrained by convention or indeed expectations. Why not be daring and impulsive because who knew if you’d be alive tomorrow. It was like a licence to take risks. Is that why she’d kissed Holly? Did she take the licence the situation gave her? Who was she kidding? No matter what happened that day, Gail couldn’t have not kissed Holly.

Kissing Holly was a moment of such joy. It had transcended everything Gail had endured that morning and had still to go back out and face again. As the kisses intensified, as Gail found herself pushing Holly against the wall in the interrogation room so their bodies where almost flush, the want Gail felt was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She knew, perhaps as she had always known deep down, that it would be impossible not to act on this desire. Part of her had wanted to stay in that dim, airless room kissing Holly—to forget that Ford was out there picking off her friends from 15, to forget that Chloe lay in the hospital, to forget that, yeah, she was a police officer sworn to protect and serve, and to just remain with Holly, doing what for the first time in her life felt completely right. 

Something though—duty, loyalty, training, all three in fact—made Gail pull away from Holly and leave the room with promises to call when it was all over. Still, she felt dazed by the revelations the encounter had brought, and by the surreality of it, the euphoria of that stolen moment such a strange counterbalance to the terror of that day. As Gail emerged into the corridor, straightening her uniform in an attempt to regain her composure, it was like something profound had shifted in her. She was certain Oliver could see it written all over her face, that transformation so intense it surely must have manifested in her appearance.

Now standing in the entranceway of her house, she felt Holly’s hand on her the small of her back, just a light touch but reassuring none the less. ‘Be nice to Chris,’ Holly murmured, ‘he cares.’

Gail bit her lip. She was about to say something about how that didn’t mean she had to put up with Chis’s stupidity but stopped herself and instead nodded in acquiescence. Perhaps she should apologise to Chris, except saying sorry wasn’t something she generally did. Maybe she could say something to soften the bite in her words. Before Gail could decide what to do, Chloe was barrelling through the door, Dov at her heels. Unlike Chris, Chloe disregarded Gail’s notorious dislike of being touched and launched herself at Gail, hugging her tightly, so much so Gail began to feel smothered. She went rigid and sucked in her breath.

‘Ah, Chloe,’ Holly said.

‘Oh yes, right,’ Chloe released Gail and took a step back, ‘oh god Gail this is terrible. We locked the door when we left. I made Dov double check.’

‘So how did Francine get in?’ Frankie asked.

‘You’re assuming it is Francine?’ Dov asked.

‘For now,’ Frankie answered, ‘seems most likely.’

‘It could be my fault,’ Dov grimaced, ‘I propped the door so I didn’t have to keep opening it every time I carried a box to the car. Chloe was sorting through some stuff she hadn’t gotten around to packing so I was doing it on my own. The door was probably only open for ten minutes or so.’

‘But Francine could have slipped in, in that time,’ Frankie sighed.

‘I guess,’ Dov agreed, ‘I didn’t see anyone.’

‘It means she’s watching the house,’ Gail said, reaching for Holly’s hand, knowing this would be far from welcome news. Just as she expected, Holly stiffened as Gail spoke.

A second search of the house had proved fruitless. Just as Gail said it would. Dov and Chloe went with Chris and Anna to check the street and surrounding neighbourhood. By the time they returned, the kitchen was full of people. Gail had started scrubbing the powder off the refrigerator. Holly excused herself to go shower. If she had looked tired when she arrived home, Holly now seemed utterly exhausted, her shoulders slumped and her mouth draw in an uncharacteristically grim line.

Eventually, Chris and Anna left to respond to another call. Chloe and Dov followed soon after. They had offered to stay the night but Gail screwed up her face and said ‘We don’t need baby sitting.’

‘Too bad Peck,’ Frankie said, ‘I brought my overnight bag.’

‘Eww Frankie, you do know Holly and I aren’t into threesomes,’ Gail drawled, and then nodded in Alannah’s direction, ‘anyway what would your girlfriend think.’

Frankie coloured. Ah, so still uncomfortable with the girlfriend tag, Gail thought. Jesus, Frankie really needed to get over herself. Alannah noticed it too. Gail could tell by the way her face went suddenly still, as if she were trying not to show how she really felt. Gail wanted to kick Frankie. All that talk of being on probation and she couldn’t even stomach the world girlfriend. If she wasn’t careful, Frankie was going to fuck it all up again. The sooner she and Alannah had couple’s counselling the better. There was an awkward silence which Frankie eventually and not very successfully covered by asking Fiona Vincent to step out into the living room, presumably to talk about Francine. 

‘No offence Fiona, but why are you even here?’ Gail asked the staff sergeant before she went after Frankie. ‘I mean, aren’t internal investigations your thing?’

‘I have a bit of latitude,’ Fiona hedged. 

‘Oh you mean my mother,’ Gail said with seeming insouciance, ‘she put you up to this.’

‘It’s logical I take an interest,’ Fiona said evenly, ‘this began when Francine Hart lodged a complaint against you. It is as much my job to ensure officers can carry out their work without mischievous interference as it is to make sure they play by the rules.’

‘Uh huh,’ Gail said, not sounding entirely convinced. You keep saying that and you might eventually believe it, Fiona, she thought to herself. It was well known the Professional Standards Investigative Unit was more about rooting out crooked cops than saving scalps. She was tempted to say it out loud but restrained herself. Holly wouldn’t like it if she put Fiona offside. She was supposed to play nice with other kids and things were dicey enough with Lisa already without antagonising her girlfriend. So Gail just shrugged and made a whatever face. ‘Guess it’s good to have someone else in our corner,’ she conceded. That was magnanimous, Gail decided, Holly would be proud of her. Fiona nodded and went to speak with Frankie. Chances were Gail’s mother had instructed Fiona to look out for Gail – well, no not instructed, it would have been a suggestion the staff sergeant couldn’t very well ignore.

Her departure left Alannah and Lisa at the kitchen table. Could she get rid of them too, Gail wondered. Maybe not Alannah. Gail liked Alannah. She was actually pretty cool, almost in the same nerdy way Holly was, and just like Holly she was super smart. Around Alannah, Gail never had the same compulsion to bash her head against the nearest brick wall, which inevitably happened at some point in her interactions with most other people because they couldn’t help but be idiots.

‘You eaten?’ Gail asked, ‘I can stretch dinner.’ She was a little taken aback by her generosity. Perhaps she was going soft or maybe, loath as she was to admit it, Gail wanted people around right now.

‘What are you making?’ Lisa asked, like this might determine whether she remained or went.

‘Pasta. No one’s forcing you to stay,’ Gail couldn’t help but snark.

‘Jesus Peck no need for the hostility. I was just going to say it smells great,’ Lisa retorted, ‘what’s in the sauce.’

‘Oh,’ Gail said awkwardly, tossing up whether she should apologise and then dismissing that as a really bad idea. ‘It’s just a basic tomato one. Fresh basil, smokey bacon, jalapeño chilli, lots of red wine.’ That, at least, was said in a friendly tone.

'Tomatoes? 'Lisa said it like a question. 

'Cooked is okay. I'm only allergic to raw ones,' Gail explained. Wow, was Lisa concerned about her welfare. Surely not.

‘She’s actually a very good cook,’ Lisa said to Alannah as though this should come as a surprise. There was a sense too that, in admitting this Lisa was making a big concession. The very first time Gail cooked dinner when Lisa had stayed for those few weeks, Lisa had eyed the food somewhat suspiciously. Once Lisa had her first mouthful, she couldn’t stop, even asking for seconds. In fact, at one point she was making what sounded awfully like sex noises, which had made Gail and Chloe exchange looks of alarm.

‘Yeah, Holly managed to tame the barbarian,’ Gail quipped, ‘I even eat with a knife and fork now.’ In truth, she did more of the cooking than Holly. It wasn’t that Holly was a terrible cook—in fact she had a number of what Gail termed her ‘signature dishes’ which were to die for—it was just that she was often a very distracted cook. Holly would stop mid chopping to tell a story, becoming so engrossed in her tale, it was only when there was a smell of burning, or Gail stepped in to remind her, that Holly would realise she had left something on the stove.

Alannah suppressed a smile. ‘Holly mentioned it was one of Gail’s accomplishments.’

Shit, had Alannah meant that to be flirtatious? It was all kinds of awkward if she did. And accomplishments. What was Gail – a heroine in a Jane Austen novel? Elizabeth Bennett to Holly’s Darcy. That image made her smile. Except Darcy was proud and distant—to begin with anyway—hardly words you could use to describe Holly. Now Gail, on the other hand…

‘The other one being sex,’ Lisa sniggered.

It brought Gail’s attention back to the kitchen and away from the vision of Holly in a bonnet and white muslin dress, her bosom heaving, because that’s what they did in the 18th century, and they were most definitely bosoms not breasts. People certainly didn’t discuss sex either, at least not as openly and explicitly as Lisa was surely about to. Gail very deliberately dropped her knife on the cutting board so it made a satisfying thud of protest. 

Lisa was unfazed, or perhaps simply oblivious. ‘We all know Gail’s very accomplished at sex,’ she said with a sneer.

‘Not from personal experience, that’s for sure,’ Gail said like the thought alone of sex with Lisa was abhorrent.

‘The feeling's mutual, Peck.’

‘Just so we’re clear—even if we were the last people on earth it’s not happening. And really, you want to talk about sex right now.’

‘I don’t know why you’re being squeamish,’ Lisa griped, ‘we’ve all walked in on you and Holly enough times.’

‘It wasn’t what I meant,’ Alannah interrupted, if anything annoyed by Lisa’s outburst, ‘and speak for yourself Lis. The only person I’ve ever walked in on is you, that time in college.’ 

Not flirtatious then. Phew, Gail thought. Just sticking up for her like a friend. Alannah was okay.

‘Hmph,’ Lisa said, as if not quite prepared to concede there was any truth to Alannah’s recollection.

‘Lisa, you’re good at cutting things, here,’ Gail handed her a chopping board and a knife, deciding it best to distract her. It was a bit like dealing with a toddler. ‘Make yourself useful. Slice up some vegetables for the salad.’ 

Lisa regarded the knife and board as though it were some kind of foreign object. When she stayed with Gail, Lisa never once cooked a meal. She was good at eating them and extremely proficient at ordering take-out, but actually preparing a meal from scratch seemed beyond her. 

‘Go on. I expect some precision dicing from a surgeon of your standing,’ Gail said. Lisa scowled but picked up a carrot and started to chop.

‘Did you cook for Frankie when you two were together?’ Alannah asked quite suddenly. Her tone was wistful, like this was something she wanted to do with Frankie.

‘Frankie and I were never actually together, Alannah. Not like a couple.’ Gail put down the knife and looked directly at her. This question seemed important. Gail was fairly certain she could guess why. It was about domesticity, the everyday and sometimes tedious things that said you were a couple, and which, despite their ordinariness, were given a certain frisson by virtue of what they represented. 

‘Yeah, she was too hung up on Holly to commit to anyone else.’ Lisa said blithely, clearly not remotely tuned into Alannah’s mood.

‘True,’ Gail agreed genially, not looking away from Alannah, ‘but regardless it wasn’t like that with Frankie and me. It was more,’ Gail paused as she searched for the right words, ‘a convenient arrangement. You’re the first person she’s cared enough about to want a real relationship with.’

‘I really can’t picture Gail and Frankie together,’ Lisa said, without glancing up from her task, ‘it must have been like dating yourself, Gail.’

Gail scrunched up her face. Lisa rarely thought about she said before saying it. Although the opposite was probably true when she was around Gail. It was like she deliberately looked for things to say to provoke Gail. Holly had said much the same thing about Gail and Frankie but coming from Holly it was not nearly so offensive. It was more that she was curious about how it worked.

‘Lisa,’ Alannah began.

‘What?’ Lisa did look up now with a slight frown of consternation, as if Alannah and Gail were reacting unreasonably. ‘I mean it’s bordering on narcissism. Actually, the sex must have been practically masturbatory.’

‘That’s where you’re going with this Lisa,’ Gail said, not particularly affronted because it was Lisa and Lisa was always saying dumb shit. 

‘That’s,’ Alannah shook her head.

‘Seriously fucked up,’ Gail supplied for her. Alannah nodded.

‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you two,’ Lisa huffed, ‘all I’m trying to say is, given how alike they are, if Gail has settled down, then Frankie can too.’

‘Yep, that was exactly what you were saying,’ Gail had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. ‘How’s that slicing going?’ She looked at the bowl in front of Lisa. The carrots had been cut into uneven chunks and the cucumbers in thick wedges. The peppers, at least, seemed to have survived Lisa’s butchering. ‘Are you sure you’re the world’s best boob doctor Lisa, because if that’s an example of your work I’m surprised your OR isn’t a bloodbath.’

‘Hilarious Peck,’ Lisa stopped chopping and pushed back from the table. She helped herself to a beer from the fridge and sat back down heavily, with a loud sigh.

‘If you’re drinking my beer, at least you could offer Alannah and me one,’ Gail said tartly.

‘I’m drinking Holly’s share of the the beer,’ Lisa scowled, but retrieved two more beers, plonking one down in front of Alannah who had taken over chopping duties, and making a great show of handing the other to Gail.

‘Speaking of sex,’ Lisa started as she once again sat at the table.

‘I didn’t think we were,’ Alannah cut in. She’d sliced the rest of the vegetables into even sizes and was now trying to refashion the ones Lisa had botched.

‘Is Holly using sex as avoidance?’ Lisa asked bluntly, ignoring Alannah.

‘What do you mean?’ Gail said warily, for once grateful she knew how to mask her feelings. Peck training 101. Give nothing away.

‘You know, having sex rather than talk about how all this is affecting her,’ Lisa said, waving her hand in the direction of the refrigerator, so Gail and Alannah could tell that ‘all this’ meant Francine.

‘What, she’s done it before?’ Gail blurted out, then inwardly cursed herself for being drawn in by Lisa.

‘You think you’re special Peck. It was Holly’s go to strategy at college.’

‘Lisa,’ Alannah said sharply, ‘you’re exaggerating. There were a couple of one night stands, which involved some alcohol.’

‘Wait,’ Gail said, ‘Lisa, you’re not comparing me to a drunken one night stand?’

‘You said it, Peck,’ Lisa said, looking smug as if she’d just won some kind of victory. Gail screwed up her face. Lisa always seemed to turn their conversations into a game of one¬¬–upmanship. Which was really screwy right at this moment because having a psycho sneak into your house and mutilate photos of you wasn’t exactly fun. Gail didn’t expect sympathy from Lisa but she could, at least, cut her some slack.

‘Playing nice with the other kids, Lisa,’ Frankie said from the doorway. 

‘Oh look the evil twin,’ Lisa said.

‘What the,’ Frankie curled her lip.

‘That must mean I’m the nice twin. Is that a compliment or an insult?’ Gail quipped. Then her face went completely immobile for there standing just behind Frankie was Elaine Peck. 

The Superintendent’s lips were drawn in a thin line and her eyes narrowed. Gail knew that look. It was determined and unyielding. It meant she wouldn’t be swayed from whatever course she’d set upon. Great, just fanfuckingtastic. She guessed she had Fiona Vincent to thank for informing her mother about Francine’s latest strike. 

As Elaine followed Frankie into the room, a third person came into view. It was a man wearing overalls and carrying a toolbox.

‘This is Mike,’ Elaine said authoritatively, like she was now in charge, ‘he’s installing an alarm system.’

‘Right now,’ Gail said irritably, ‘if I wanted an alarm, I would have organized it myself.’

Elaine pursed her lips. ‘Gail, a word privately,’ she said testily. 

With a great show of reluctance, Gail followed Elaine out to the living room. Fiona Vincent was in the hallway on her phone and she nodded as they passed.

‘Gail, I’m not interested in what you have to say,’ Elaine said once they reached the living room, and were presumably out of earshot of everyone else. Not that Gail cared if they heard. No point. It seemed like pretty much everyone knew her business now. ‘Your objections are petty and thoughtless,’ Elaine continued, ‘and frankly I would have thought you’d have better judgement.’

‘Well, don’t hold back. Tell me what you really think, mother,’ Gail replied. She hated the way Elaine believed she could still sweep in and organise her life. Like she knew what was best for Gail. Like Gail was incapable of making an adult decision. It immediately put Gail’s back up, even if Elaine had an idea that was reasonable. ‘Holly and I will discuss whether we want an alarm, and if we decide we do, then I’ll get one installed.’

‘It will make Holly feel safe,’ Elaine stated simply.

That made Gail pause. Her mother was right. And it was sensible under the circumstances,

‘What will make me feel safe?’ came Holly’s voice. She was standing in the hallway just outside the door, dressed in sweats with her wet hair pulled back in a ponytail. 

Even like this Gail thought her so very beautiful. She experienced anew that feeling of sheer dumb incredible luck to have found Holly. She could hear her therapist, Leslie, saying, ‘but is it luck, Gail? Haven’t you made choices to shape the life you want to lead?’ Leslie wasn’t entirely wrong. Until Holly, Gail had felt like she was sleepwalking through life. She had no idea where she was headed, except that she was a Peck and a cop, factors that were preordained rather than chosen and definitely not something she could opt out of, and of course she wasn’t girlfriend material. Leslie would probably say that last bit was choice. In fact, she’d probably say it all came down to choice. 

It was chance though that brought Holly stumbling into Gail’s crime scene. Well, not exactly stumbling, more like she bounded. Holly didn’t sleep walk, no she approached things with an enthusiasm that was a mixture of curiosity about and openness to the world around her. It was an enthusiasm which back then Gail generally only reserved for donuts and good tequila. Inertia wasn’t in Holly’s DNA, Gail claimed. Holly laughed at that. ‘Oh you should have seen how much I procrastinated after you dumped me at the Penny,’ she said. Gail had, of course, protested, ‘I did not dump you that night,’ and Holly had tilted her head to one side and regarded Gail with an indulgent but disbelieving expression. That apparent aversion to lethargy partly explained why Holly started seeing someone else so quickly. 

Celery said it was fate that brought she and Holly together. Really, Gail was so churlish that day in the woods she was surprised Holly wasn’t put off completely. The fact that she wasn’t had intrigued Gail. Without quite consciously realising, it made her want to find out more about Holly. Celery still maintained it was destiny. If that was the case, then fate was really screwing with her the night she met Lisa, Gail thought. 

‘Holly dear,’ Elaine smiled as Holly came into the room. 

The shower had revived Holly a little but there was still a telltale furrow of worry between her eyes.

‘An alarm,’ Gail said, ‘it’s being installed right now.’

‘Is this your doing, Elaine?’ Holly asked and Elaine nodded. ‘Sounds sensible, right.’ The way she said it, it was more like a question, and she turned to Gail who nodded. ‘How did you get someone here so late? Won’t they charge through the nose?’

‘All taken care of,’ Elaine waved her hand, ‘and Mike owes me a favour.’

‘I can afford an alarm system,’ Holly said a little tersely.

‘Of course dear,’ Elaine said, ‘and you can pay for it if you insist but consider it a gift. It’s at least something practical I can do to keep you two safe.’

It was sincere, Gail was sure of that. Somehow, though, Elaine still managed to make it sound like she needed to step in because Gail, and by extension Holly, were too hopeless to manage on their own. Well, Gail could now add alarm systems to weapons as Elaine’s gift of choice to say she cared. Not that Gail wasn’t grateful at some level, but, in a situation like this, most mothers would pull their daughter into a hug and inquire as to their wellbeing. This, she supposed, was as effusive as Elaine was going to get.

‘Thank you, Elaine. That is very generous but could you ask Mike to bill me,’ Holly said. She smiled but her tone was firm. Gail was grateful. It was best not to be indebted to Elaine, even if you were related to her, or perhaps especially so.

‘Do you want to stay for dinner?’ Gail asked Elaine off-handedly, ‘it seems half of Canada’s in the kitchen and I agreed to feed them.’

Before Elaine had a chance to answer, Becca and Kurt literally burst into the room and, seemingly in one fluid motion, Becca was embracing Holly and then Gail while Kurt enveloped Holly in a hug. 

‘Oh Gail,‘ Becca said, holding Gail to her quite tightly, ‘I’m so sorry you’re going through this. What can we do?’

If she’d ordered up a set of parents to show Elaine how it was done, Gail couldn’t have asked for better. The advent of the Stewart/Flowers clan in her life had brought with it a hitherto foreign sense of familial warmth and compassion. That fact must have been plain to Elaine because she stiffened slightly, a strange, quite possibly disconcerted, expression on her face. Like she was going cross-eyed in her efforts not to reveal what she was really thinking or feeling.

It transpired Kurt and Becca were passing when they saw all the activity at the house, including Mike’s van, which was emblazoned with a sign saying ‘Crimsafe’. Becca and Kurt were greeted at the door by Fiona Vincent, who knew them, having gone out to dinner with both they and Lisa.

‘They’re like Lisa’s surrogate parents,’ Holly said to Gail by way of explanation.

‘Well, they could have done a better job bringing her up,’ Gail said, her voice not quiet enough that Kurt and Becca didn’t hear.

Kurt laughed in a way that reminded Gail of Holly. Becca smiled and said, ‘I’m afraid Lisa came to us too late. There was only so much damage we could undo.’

‘I hate to think what she was like before you two intervened,’ Gail said, which this time made Becca laugh.

In the end, they all stayed for a dinner filled with laughter and stories and good food, and no mention of Francine, which Gail admitted was a relief. Even though she grumbled about her kitchen being full of people, as she looked around, Gail was glad they had stayed. It made Holly feel better. Gail could see that. In a sense they were reclaiming this space where Francine had stood, perhaps only hours earlier, methodically removing Gail’s eyes from all those photos. Gail tried to avoid looking at the refrigerator, a residue of fingerprint powder the only thing now adorning it despite her scrubbing. But she kept being drawn back to it, each time reminded anew why the photos were no longer there. Each time too there settled in her stomach a gnawing feeling of dread so at odds with the conviviality surrounding her and which, like a balm on a rough piece of skin, had allowed her to momentarily forget Francine.

The only other time Francine, or at least the spectre of Francine, intruded was when Mike needed to turn the power off for fifteen minutes. Holly and Gail fetched candles, which infused the kitchen with a warm yellow glow and Gail could almost believe this was simply a spontaneous dinner with good friends. Even Lisa had dropped her earlier antagonism and was in a cheerful mood. It seemed Fiona was a good influence. Holly sat next to Gail, her chair pulled close and a hand resting on Gail’s thigh.

Eventually everyone went home, save Frankie and Alannah because Frankie insisted on staying the night ‘just in case’. The four of them sat at the kitchen table drinking camomile tea. Holly claimed it was calming and would help them sleep after all the ‘excitement’. 

‘Oh really,’ Gail teased Holly, ‘you’ve been hanging around Celery too much.’ 

Holly answered by smiling and leaning over to kiss Gail, just softly but lingeringly so Gail couldn’t help but grin against her lips. It took an awkward cough from Frankie for Holly to pull back.

‘You know Lisa gets mean when she’s worried,’ Alannah said in the silence that followed. 

‘Yeah, Alannah’s right,’ Holly agreed but she looked concerned. She moved her hand to Gail’s arm, ‘was Lisa being a bitch.’

‘Nothing I couldn’t handle,’ Gail shrugged, not particularly interested in dissecting the conversation with Lisa.

‘Jesus, Lisa needs a kick up the ass,’ Frankie said in disgust.

It was close to midnight when Gail and Holly finally got to bed. It was unmade from their activities of earlier in the afternoon. That seemed like a lifetime ago, Gail thought, but then a lot had happened in the intervening hours. Human remains and a visit from a psycho.

‘You did a total loaves and fishes thing with dinner,’ Holly said.

Gail snorted. ‘Are you implying I’m Christlike.’

‘Well, you are my saviour,’ Holly tipped her head to one side and smiled. 

Oh that, Gail thought with a sinking heart. On her way out, Elaine had taken Gail aside and reminded her about the award ceremony. ‘I don’t want a bravery award,’ Gail had said, ‘I mean, I could understand if it was a random stranger I saved from the car, not my girlfriend. Anyone would have done the same.’

‘I’m not so sure about that,’ Elaine had clicked her tongue in annoyance.

Now, Holly’s smile turned sympathetic and she took Gail’s hand. ‘Elaine spoke to me too. I don’t think you can refuse the award. Anyway, I think you deserve it.’

‘God, since when have you colluded with Superintendent Mom,’ Gail huffed.

‘At least I’ll get to see you in your uniform,’ Holly smirked because they both knew exactly how that usually ended. At the very least, Holly was guaranteed not to be able to keep her hands to herself.

‘You only have to ask if you want me to put my uniform on.’

‘Yeah,’ Holly grinned, ‘don’t tempt me.’ Holly has admitted to Gail that she liked the fact everyone saw how hot Gail looked in her uniform but it was she who got to take her home and strip her out of it. Liked was probably too insipid a word for what that did to Holly. Gail found it amusing that Holly got so worked up at the sight of her in uniform, but wasn’t complaining seeing as she was the beneficiary of Holly’s libidinous. Sometimes Holly removed Gail’s uniform very very slowly, savouring and teasing, and other times it was a little frenzied, so much so on one occasion several of Gail’s buttons popped off.

‘Oh, so now I’m a temptress,’ Gail smiled lazily

‘You are insane,’ Holly smirked again.  
.  
They were lying face to face, and Holly moved closer so she could kiss Gail. Unlike the kiss in the kitchen, this was more insistent, and before long Holly moved a hand to Gail’s breast and shifted so her leg was against Gail’s centre. Gail found herself responding almost involuntarily, deepening the kiss and pressing against Holly’s thigh, bringing a hand to cup her ass and press her closer, a fluttering low in her stomach, her skin tingling in anticipation of what was to come. 

Gail had once told Holly that sex with her was so very, very, very good she could imagine giving staying in bed with Holly forever and giving herself over entirely to hedonism. It was said playfully but Gail was only half-joking. ‘We’d have to get up sometime,’ Holly laughed. When Gail shook her head vigorously, Holly, ever practical, pointed out, ‘food, going to the bathroom, personal hygiene.’ Gail conceded Holly made a valid point and decided exemptions could be made for what she designated ‘life sustaining’ activities but nothing else. Holly laughed once more, ‘you’d get sick of me eventually.’ Gail again shook her head vigorously, insisting that would never happen.

Now Gail was rocking against Holly’s leg, the friction enough that she was already starting to gasp and might have come just like that but then Holly repositioned herself, shifting her leg from Gail’s centre and sliding her hand to the band of Gail’s boy shorts. Holly slipped her fingers beneath the fabric, tantalisingly close to Gail’s clit, which was already thrumming with a delicious wanting ache. It wouldn’t take much for Holly to move her fingers further down still and then Gail would be lost. The desire she felt for Holly and the connection to her was so fierce normally Gail didn’t hesitate to act on it, particularly when Holly was kissing her so wantonly. Now, though, she pulled back abruptly, stopping Holly’s hand.

‘What’s wrong?’ Holly looked dazed. Gail couldn’t tell if it was from lust or confusion or a mixture of both.

‘We can’t keep doing this,’ Gail said.

‘Doing what?’ There was defensiveness about Holly that should have made Gail stop and consider how best to broach this, especially when Holly was already feeling so vulnerable. Instead, it just made Gail nervous, which was ridiculous because this was Holly and Holly never made her nervous, in fact quite the opposite. But then Holly was never normally defensive with Gail.

‘Lisa said in college you used sex as avoidance.’ Even as she spoke, Gail wished she could take the words back. It wasn’t what she’d meant to say but somehow it spilled out. Here she was trying to do the right thing but she was making a mess of it. Really someone needed to give her a relationship manual—something to help her navigate unfamiliar territory.

‘Lisa knows shit,’ Holly said coolly. She moved up into a sitting position, her back against the headboard and Gail did the same.

‘You won’t get any argument from me about that,’ Gail tried to sound lighthearted but it fell flat. Even in the gloom of the bedroom she could make out Holly’s stony expression. ‘It’s just, um, you want to have sex a lot, kinda all the time and¬–‘

‘And you’re finding me too demanding,’ Holly interrupted.

‘What? No!’ Gail protested, ‘I’m concerned that maybe something else is worrying you. Maybe it’s because of the near death experience, you know, being reminded of your – our – mortality, well that’s what Frankie thought—‘

‘You discussed our sex life with Frankie,’ Holly said. The harshness in her voice threw Gail.

‘It’s not like she hasn’t figured out why I keep disappearing in the afternoon. She asked what was going on.’

‘And so you what? Filled her in, workshopped it.’

‘No. I just said that it was happening a lot. Not the details. I’d never do that. Even when we first slept together and it was so incredible, nobody had ever made me feel like that before, and I practically wanted to shout from the rooftops, and you know that’s not something I do. I never gave anyone details, even when McNally and Traci cornered me in the Penny and plied me with so much tequila they practically had to carry me home.’

‘I told Rachel and Lisa,’ Holly said quietly, seemingly no longer annoyed, in fact sounding chastened.

‘What?’ Gail asked, confused.

‘Best sex ever. That’s what I told Lisa and Rachel when we first got together.’

‘Oh,’ was all Gail could think to say. Holly was close to Rachel and Lisa, they were like family after all, so it would make sense she’d share this with them. Gail could imagine Lisa asking something direct like ‘how is the sex?’ She wouldn’t hold back, that’s for sure. Now she thought about it, Gail recognised that Lisa had a lot of problems with boundaries. Even so, and even though Lisa had unwittingly walked in on them a number of times, which was annoying and a little mortifying (not that Gail was going to allow herself to give into the feeling), she hoped Holly hadn’t been too candid. The thought that Lisa knew the details of their sex life was a tad disconcerting.

‘ I couldn’t help it,’ Holly continued, ‘Lisa kept going on and on about how you wouldn’t know what to do and I just had to shut her up.’

‘Lisa knows shit,’ Gail drawled and Holly laughed.

‘Oh yeah. You were a natural,’ Holly screwed up her face, ‘I might have told Lisa that too and I might have bragged about how many orgasms you’d given me the night before but that was all.’

‘Uh huh,’ Gail said, sensing she might have the upper hand now. Not that she was going to use that against Holly. It just let her off the hook. Holly couldn’t be mad at her for talking to Frankie when she’d over-shared with Lisa and Rachel. 

‘But you and Frankie slept together. Telling her is different.’

Okay, so maybe she’d just lost that upper hand, Gail thought. ‘Except me and Frankie—that’s so, so in the past. I’m still figuring this out—how to be in a relationship—and sometimes it helps to talk to her, especially as it’s new for both of us.’

‘You don’t think you can figure it out with me?’

‘Yeah, of course, but occasionally it’s good to get an outside perspective. Frankie just wanted to help. She’d be just as squeamish as you if I actually did reveal the details of our sex life.’

‘And you’ve been trying to talk to me about this,’ Holly blew out her cheeks, ‘and I’ve been,’ Holly stopped and screwed up her face as she searched for the right word.

‘Defensive. Angry,’ Gail suggested, but her tone was understanding rather than accusatory, ‘it didn’t help that I mentioned Lisa and Frankie. That was monumentally stupid. I’m not very good at this Holly.’ Gail flapped her hands about to indicate the two of them. ‘Especially conflict.’ 

‘At least you’re trying. I just blocked you, and then told you to talk to me not Frankie, which isn’t going to work if I’m not listening. The thing is,’ Holly took Gail’s hand, ‘Frankie’s kind of right. Every time you walk out that door to go to work I worry that’s the last time I’ll ever see you. I thought I’d found a way to manage that, but then the whole Gimlet thing happened, and now I’ve put you in more danger because of Francine. Part of me—a very big part—just wants to keep you close all the time, to never let you out of my sight.’

‘To wrap me in cotton wool,’ Gail made a sympathetic face.

‘It’s crazy, but yeah and I know I can’t do that. So sex is the one time I let go of that worry,’ Holly said.

‘That makes sense,’ Gail said, she smoothed her thumb along the outside of Holly’s hand ‘I promise I will always be careful and I won’t take unnecessary risks because all I want to do is come back to you. I’ve made it through a lot of crazy shit and that’s a positive right. Not the crazy shit but—’

‘But because you’re a survivor.’

‘Against all odds and despite my self-destructive impulses,’ Gail made a rueful face. ‘Holly, you give me a very compelling to hang around. I don’t want to miss a minute of us together. If only I could do something to make you worry less.’

Holly gave a half smile. ‘I called Leslie this evening and she gave me the names of some therapists. I think it would help to talk to someone.’

‘Yeah, it does,’ Gail nodded enthusiastically, ‘but it kinda sucks that you need therapy because of me’

‘No, not because of you. Plenty of other people handle having partners on the force. This is about my anxieties. It’s not like I didn’t know what you did for a living when we started dating.’

‘Maybe you need an undemanding girlfriend with a mundane job,’ Gail joked.

‘Seriously? You mean someone insipid,’ Holly quirked an eyebrow, ‘I’d choose worrying about you over a simple life any day.’

‘Sweet talker,’ Gail teased, then kissed Holly lightly on the lips. 

If mundane was simple did that mean their life was what—complicated, difficult? Gail knew she wasn’t exactly the most straightforward person, and even though she was trying to be better, Holly made allowances for her. Would it have been easier for Holly if they’d never met? What if it was Marlo who had accompanied Holly to the morgue that day while Gail stayed behind in the woods? Would life have unfolded differently? Would Holly be lying in bed next to someone completely different—someone with a nice, safe job and a functional family and no baggage, emotional or otherwise? Someone who wasn’t the least bit skittish, and whom, if there happened to be a problem in the relationship, would discuss it calmly and maturely, and most definitely wouldn’t nervously blurt out the first thing that entered her head.

‘You are perfect for me,’ Holly said gently as if reading Gail’s mind, or at least knowing from experience the tunnel Gail was going down, ‘you know that. So stop beating yourself up. We’ll figure it out.’ 

Gail smiled weakly. Perfect except for the fact that Holly spent a good deal of her waking hours anxious about Gail’s safety.

After that, Holly said they really should sleep. It was well past midnight now and Gail needed to be up early for the breakfast meeting with Tim Avanti at Viscom. As they lay back down on the bed, Holly said in a small voice, ‘can you just hold me.’ Gail scooted over immediately, pressing up against Holly’s back, one arm around her waist. ‘Always,’ Gail breathed, and even though she couldn’t see Holly’s face, she was sure she was smiling. 

Holly turned to face her then, and the kiss that followed was sweet and full of love and an unspoken understanding that they were in this together. Gail wrapped her arms around Holly, drawing comfort, as she always did, from the way Holly smelled, the traces of vanilla and cinnamon she associated with warmth and reassurance and love and security. Holly was her safe harbour, Gail realized, desperately wishing she could offer Holly that same solace and protection.

Just as she was about to slip into sleep, Gail was jolted awake by a thought. ‘That talk of babies, was that about keeping me barefoot and pregnant? You know, stop me from chasing bad guys.’

‘Sleeping now,’ Holly said, her voice muffled because of the way she was lying with her head against Gail’s chest. Admittedly she did sound tired, but Gail wasn’t letting it go.

‘Okay, but don’t think you’re off the hook, Stewart.’

‘I love you, Gail,’ came the muffled reply.

Gail smiled and kissed Holly’s forehead, ‘I love you too, nerd.’

…………………………………………….

Viscom was in a huge new glass building downtown—one of the ones that seemed to stretch up forever. Skyscraper was the right name for it, Gail thought. The very first high rise really must have been a thing of wonder. She’d read it was built in the 1880s, not as you might expect in New York but in Chicago. It forever changed cityscapes. Ten storeys, modest by today’s standards, but still people predicted it wouldn’t stand. The architect, William Jenney, proved them wrong. He said he designed buildings to last so people could read the feelings and emotions of those who constructed them. Not that that first one lasted. It fell to the wrecking ball in 1931 to make way for a much taller building. 

Jeez, she was becoming as nerdy as Holly with these facts. Problem was she had a facility for remembering them, due in part to Elaine’s tutelage but also because she was something of a natural. Steve wasn’t nearly as good and he hated that she showed him up. Not that Gail wanted to, it was just that her parents turned everything into a competition and Steve always wanted to win, the drive to impress bordering on obsession. It was what had undone him. Well, that and his arrogance. His wrecking ball. When Gail was little, she often deliberately said she couldn’t remember things just so Steve wouldn’t sulk. 

It occurred to Gail that even the most solidly constructed thing could be torn down. You could make a monument to your better self, not even a monument, but a place to just be, structurally sound with good foundations, and it could be crushed like it were made of paper. There was a wrecking ball for everything, Gail thought gloomily. It was then she realised she was longer thinking about William Jenney’s building but her relationship with Holly. Was Francine their wrecking ball?

The elevator dinging brought her too.

‘You okay there,’ Frankie asked, ‘you look like shit, Peck.’

‘Didn’t sleep much,’ she said, and when Frankie raised an eyebrow, hurriedly added, ‘not what you’re thinking.’ In fact, Frankie wasn’t looking too flash either. There were dark shadows under her eyes and her face was wan, in fact far too pale to suggest she’d stayed up having sex. No. It was more likely, just like Gail and Holly, she and Alannah were having a heart to heart.

Viscom took up the entire eighteenth floor of the building. You didn’t have this much realestate in downtown Toronto unless you were a success story. Even the reception area had a conspicuous plushness about it, which while tasteful was showy, like Viscom wanted its clients to know it was doing well. Marcia, Tim Avant’s secretary, was waiting for Gail and Frankie in reception and ushered them into his office. 

The CEO was seated behind a long glass desk. His office was large. Big enough for a couch and two chairs and a sideboard upon which had been placed an amazing breakfast spread—pastries, various cereals and a fruit platter. The aroma of freshly made coffee drifted through the room. Gail was so desperate for a shot of caffeine she was sure she had her nose in the air, twitching and sniffing like a dog.

‘Coffee? It’s espresso, the real stuff,’ Avanti offered, all smooth and urban. He was young for a CEO, probably somewhere in his mid-thirties. 

As Avanti busied himself with the coffee machine, Gail took at good look at him. He wore an open neck white shirt with a blue suit, the blazer fastened by one button, a white and grey handkerchief with geometrical patterns peeking out of the breast pocket. His hair was stylishly cut, his teeth too white, and he had an artfully managed two-day growth. A battered pair of brown shoes was the only off note, but even then it sent a message as if to say Avanti choose comfort over style, which clearly was not the case. No doubt he believed it made him seem edgy and a little bit anti-establishment (as if, Gail thought). The hipster businessman, he looked like he should be modelling menswear, she decided.

‘Marcia has emailed the surveyor’s report and photographs to both you and the forensic pathologist,’ Avanti said when they sat down – Gail and Frankie on the couch, Avanti on a chair opposite. ‘I believe the pathologist thought it might help him determine when the body was buried.’

‘Her,’ Gail said through a mouthful of croissant. She’d tried not to take too much food, but man it was good and she was hungry. She could hear Holly saying, ‘when aren’t you hungry.’

‘Her?’ Avanti looked puzzled for a moment, and then coloured ever so slightly when he realised his mistake. ‘Marcia arranged it all. I wasn’t aware of the, ah, particulars,’ he said by way of explanation.

‘So you purchased the land from an association known as the Two Toronto Archers?’ Frankie asked, getting straight to business. She and Gail had been able to establish that much before they left the station the previous evening.

‘Yes, two brothers. Leonard and Mitchell Cormann. They set up the Club. It was called the Toronto Archers. The land originally belonged to their father. He represented Canada in archery at the Olympics back in the 50’s.’

‘I’m guessing you’d have contact details for the brothers?’

‘Len, yes,’ Avanti said, ‘but Mitchell has been missing for over four years. It was one of the things that held up the development, apart from the residents protesting against the rezoning of the land from recreational to low-rise residential. We had to petition the court to make a ruling of death in absentia.’

Neither Frankie nor Gail said anything for a moment as they digested this information. Would it be that easy? Did the skeletal remains belong to Michelle Cormann, Gail wondered.

‘They jointly owned the property,’ Avanti continued, clearly thinking from their silence that the two detectives didn’t get his meaning, ‘Len couldn’t legally sell it without Mitchell’s consent.’

‘So why put it on the market?’ Gail asked.

‘He didn’t. I met him at a party and he mentioned the land. The Club had long since folded. It sounded like it was perfect for redevelopment. I asked to take a look and made him an offer. Listen, Len’s a stand-up guy. If you’re thinking he killed Mitchell and buried him there, then why would he sell me the land knowing I was going to dig it up?’

It was a good question, Gail thought, but then criminals were generally idiots.

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..


	45. Forty-five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters….
> 
> Sorry for the long, long delay in updating. Life is crazy and demanding and throwing out a few challenges at the moment.
> 
> Thanks for the comments, kudos, bookmarks and subscriptions (they mean a lot) and to the MoodyDoc for pointing out that glaring oversight…all fixed now. I don’t have time to write a separate Frankie and Alannah fic right now, but as a reward of sorts, they feature much more in this chapter (which won’t please everyone I know).
> 
> Enjoy (I hope), review (please). Now I’m going to catch up on the latest chapters of Freedom’s Just Another Word and Everything Old is New Again. Then I’ll start on the update for Elusive.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Len Cormann owned a high-end jewellery store downtown. Even though it was early morning and the store had just opened its doors, the sole shop assistant was busy with an old lady who’d brought in her pearls to be cleaned and polished. She was so tiny and so stooped her luxuriant fur coat practically swallowed her. It was far too warm a day for a fur, Gail thought, but it didn’t seem to bother the old woman. 

‘I’ll be with you in a moment,’ the shop assistant said, her teeth so white and sparkly Gail half expected a ding to accompany her smile. She was elegantly dressed in green V-necked silk shift, her auburn hair swept up in neat chignon.

There was no sign of Len so Gail passed the time by looking at rings in one of the display cabinets. Diamonds and rubies and sapphires—all too traditional for her taste.

‘Thinking about popping the question, Peck,’ Frankie said, slouching against the counter, her elbows resting on the countertop.

‘What? No,’ Gail scowled at Frankie.

‘You’re taking an unhealthy interest in those rings then.’

‘So arrest me,’ Gail snarked, ‘what are you the jewellery police?’

You could tell by Frankie’s grin she thought she’d won this round with Gail. Who even said this was a competition but then Frankie had been out of sorts since they left the house. Gail knew Frankie well enough to realize things weren’t going well with Alannah—otherwise Frankie wouldn’t be trying to get a rise out of her. Obnoxiousness was Frankie’s go to strategy when she was feeling pissed with the world or overwhelmed by the expectation that she behave remotely like a well-adjusted human being.

Gail looked up from the rings to see the shop assistant carefully place the pearls in a velvet bag. The old woman gathered her handbag and turned to go, a slight flush on her cheeks that Gail put down to the fur coat. Frankie was still grinning smugly.

‘You make a lovely couple,’ the old woman said on her way out of the shop.

‘What? No,’ Gail screwed up her face, ‘we’re not—‘

Frankie, at least, had the decency to push off from the counter and hold the door open for the woman, who smiled at her sweetly.

‘So when’s the happy day,’ gushed the shop assistant as she moved along the counter to where Gail was standing.

‘Uh, we’re not—‘ Frankie started to say.

‘Oh, you haven’t set a date yet,’ the woman interrupted.

‘We’re not engaged and never will be, we’re detectives,’ Gail said, pulling out her badge to show the woman.

‘Oh, I am sorry,’ the assistant blushed, embarrassed at her assumption.

‘Is Mr Cormann in,’ Frankie asked abruptly, even a little crankily. It wasn’t like Frankie to be deliberately rude to witnesses. She really needed to sort this thing out with Alannah.

‘Out back,’ the assistant said, ‘do want to speak with him?’

‘Yeah,’ Frankie said, like the woman was a cretin for not figuring that out.

‘Can I tell him what it’s in relation to?’

‘Police business,’ Frankie replied tersely.

‘Mr Cormann might be able to help us with an investigation,’ Gail supplied more helpfully.

The assistant flashed Gail a smile and headed out back, presumably to Cormann’s office. Geez, you could find your way in the dark with those teeth.

A moment later, she returned. ‘Mr Cormann said give him a couple of moments, then I can take you through.’

Gail nodded her thanks and Frankie drummed her fingers on the counter. The assistant stood awkwardly, as if she couldn’t quite settle because she had to take Frankie and Gail through to Cormann’s office. Gail resumed her perusal of the ring cabinet.

‘You know you could be a hand model with hands like that,’ the assistant said quite suddenly, her tone as silky as her dress.

‘What?’ Gail asked, not sure if she’d heard correctly.

‘Your hands are very elegant—long fingers, pale skin—perfect for modelling rings.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail asked skeptically, not sure if she should be flattered.

‘I’ll take you through now,’ the assistant said, obviously having decided a suitable time had passed.

‘You’re making quite the impression,’ Frankie whispered as she and Gail followed the assistant, ‘what would Holly think.’

Gail rolled her eyes. One, she was fairly certain the assistant was 100 per cent straight and two, did Frankie think she and Holly were—what—in kindergarten. She wanted to say Holly wouldn’t care less, that she and Holly had this thing called trust and Frankie should try it sometime but thought better of it. 

Len Cormann was in his early fifties. He had an athlete’s physique and wavy grey hair, short on the sides and longer on top. His tan face had just the right amount of stubble to make it appear deliberate rather than unkempt. Maybe it was something he and Avanti bonded over, Gail thought. As she and Frankie came through the door into his office, he was indiscriminately shoving papers into a desk drawer. Before Cormann shut the drawer, Gail noticed most of the bills were actually overdue notices.

‘I don’t know why you’re talking to me, I sold that land years ago,’ Len said after Frankie explained why she and Gail were there.

‘We know that,’ Frankie said, ‘we’ve just come from speaking to Tim Avanti. The body was clearly put there prior to the sale.’

‘Yeah,’ Cormann sounded disinterested, ‘what year?’

‘We’re still determining that,’ Frankie said, sounding more patient than Gail imagined she felt.

‘And you want my help because—‘ Cormann left the question hanging, the implication being they had no reason to question him. For some reason Frankie’s line of questioning was putting him offside.

‘That your father,’ Gail said, deliberately not answering Cormann’s question. She nodded towards a large framed black and white photograph of a man who looked like a much younger version of Cormann. A medal hung around his neck, and he was holding a bow and arrow as if ready to shoot, the string on the bow taut.

‘Yes. Matthew Cormann. He won bronze at the ’56 Olympics in Melbourne. He was only sixteen at the time.’ If he had sounded bored before, now Cormann spoke with great enthusiasm, clearly proud of his father.

‘And you and your brother followed in his footsteps?’

‘Neither of us were ever as good as Dad. The archery club was his dream and when he died, Mitch and I set it up in his memory.’

‘Why didn’t you name the club after him,’ Frankie asked.

‘It was a stipulation of his will. He was a modest man.’

Stipulation of the will. Interesting, Gail thought. Did that mean the brothers’ were less altruistic than Len was making out? ‘Your father left money for the club,’ she said.

‘Yeah, enough to buy the land and build the clubhouse. He wanted more kids to get involved in the sport.’

‘What stopped him from setting up the club himself?’

‘He was diagnosed with MS when I was a teenager. An extreme form. By the time I was in my twenties, he’d lost the use of his legs and was almost completely blind. It was cruel for someone who’d led such an active life.’ 

Gail nodded sympathetically.

‘Before he was full of life,’ Cormann continued, ‘and then he just shut himself away, like he didn’t want people to see him like that. My mother was his carer and two of them became practically reclusive.’

‘Is she still alive?’ Gail asked.

Cormann shook his head. ‘She died in 1995, not long after Dad. The same year we set up the club. So, with Len’s disappearance, I’m it now. The only one of the Cormanns left.’

‘You don’t have a family,’ Gail said.

‘Never married, Cormann said, ‘ and no children that I know of.’

‘Know of,’ Frankie said.

‘Lets just say there haven’t been any ah paternity suits,’ Cormann smirked. So he fancied himself a player, Gail realized, not that she should be surprised. His suit pants were a little too tight fitting and his shirt hugged his body to show off a physique that was clearly the product of regular gym sessions. She’d noticed too that Len couldn’t help but appraise she and Frankie as they came into the office, giving them the one over as they sat down.

‘So Mitchell went missing four years ago,’ Frankie said, ‘is that right?’

‘Yeah,’ Cormann said heavily, ‘I filed a missing person’s report. Literally, one minute he was here and the next gone. His firm contacted me when he didn’t show for work three days running. Oh shit, that’s why you’re here. You think it’s him.’ Len ran a hand across his face, and squeezed his eyes shut with a thumb and forefinger.

‘At this stage we don’t know if the remains are male or female,’ Frankie said, ‘but it’s a possibility.’

‘Any reason Mitchell might have taken off?’ Gail asked.

‘No,’ Cormann sighed. ‘He just vanished. Didn’t take his wallet or cell or any clothes. In the last four years he hasn’t used his credit cards or tried to access his bank accounts.’

‘Were you two close,’ Frankie said.

‘I guess. I mean we weren’t in each other’s pockets but we caught up most weeks, even if just a quick phone call.’

‘Was anything bothering Mitchell before he disappeared?’

‘I’ve been through all this with the missing person’s unit. No history of mental illness, no emotional or financial problems, in fact no stresses at all. He was well liked at work and had a close circle of friends—so no enemies—and he didn’t belong to a wacky religious sect,’ Cormann ticked the list off on his fingers.

‘What about a partner,’ Frankie asked.

Cormann’s face clouded over. ‘Melanie. She—‘ he hesitated,’ this is going to sound crazy but she disappeared about eighteen months before Mitchell did.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Holly was running late. She was due at the morgue to meet the forensic anthropologist Dr Chatterjee in less than half hour. Really she should have got out of bed when Gail left for her meeting, but it was deliciously warm under the covers and Holly found herself drifting back into a half doze. She’d needed it too—they’d barely had six hours sleep. 

Functioning on little or no sleep didn’t seem to bother Gail. It was of course something Gail learnt as a child. Why was Holly even surprised¬¬—Elaine and Bill had done far worse. From a very young age, Gail had become used to being woken in the middle of the night and asked to perform tasks of varying degrees of difficulty. On learning this Holly had pointed out sleep that deprivation was used as a form of torture, to which Gail had replied, ‘tell me about it.’ Holly, on the other hand, didn’t do well without sleep. So when Gail left this morning with a sweet kiss, Holly had pulled the duvet up and snuggled into the warmth, wishing Gail was still there.

For someone with the Ice Queen epithet—which Holly knew to be a misnomer, well yeah Gail had her moments but mostly that was because people were idiots or thoughtless or cruel—Gail radiated a lot of heat in bed—okay, not that kind of heat, not that she wasn’t ridiculously hot, and Holly was never one to advertise it but sex with Gail was ridiculously amazing, and yeah, okay Gail did generate that kind of heat. What Holly actually meant is Gail quite literally kept her warm at night. 

Strangely though, Gail’s feet where often cold and she usually wore socks to bed. Poor circulation, Gail had shrugged. If it weren’t for the ice block feet, she could have earned good money as a human bed warmer. They were a thing among the aristocracy back before hot water bottles and electric blankets and central heating. The lady’s maid would warm her mistress’ bed and then, often as not, because it was so cold, stay the night. Holly wondered how many times hands had wandered beneath the covers—there weren’t any records of course and supposedly that sort of thing just wasn’t done back then. As if. 

When Holly had shared this fact, Gail teased that it was clearly a nerd fantasy and Holly blushed, even though that particular scenario wasn’t something she had fantasized about—at least not until Gail mentioned it. Holly could imagine slipping into a canopied bed, shivering until she found Gail, snug and warm and a little drowsy. Then she’d press herself up against Gail before slipping an arm lightly around her waist, and her hand would drift down lower and lower and lower still and Gail would stir and reflexively push against Holly’s hand and—. 

‘Oh my God nerd,’ Gail had shrieked, interrupting before Holly could go any further, a big amused grin on her face, ‘you are totally going there right now, aren’t you.’

Holly bit her lip but didn’t reply. She didn’t quite trust herself to speak.

‘Was she pretty, your maid?’ Gail asked knowingly.

‘Um, I wasn’t,’ Holly started, blushing even more, in fact feeling quite hot and bothered, and wondering if Gail would believe her if she denied indulging in said fantasy. Gail quirked an eyebrow. Okay, so that was one of Gail’s interrogation faces—the one that said you aren’t kidding anyone but yourself. ‘You were the maid,’ Holly blurted out. Oh she was a pushover. She knew exactly how Gail was working her and still she crumbled.

‘I was the maid,’ Gail said incredulously, ‘I don’t think so.’ Then she’d pushed Holly back on the bed and what ensued was better than any fantasy. Always was.

Holly smiled at that memory as she came down the stairs and into the kitchen, intending to grab an apple to eat in the car. Coffee would have to wait until she got to work. Alannah was seated at the table looking glum. Actually looking wretched. Judging from the dark circles under her eyes, she’d slept fitfully, if at all. Holly could guess whose fault that was. A certain swaggery detective who wouldn’t know what was good for her if it bit her in the ass.

‘Are you okay?’ Holly asked tentatively, knowing Alannah was anything but okay but not sure what else to say. 

‘I think I have to end it with Frankie,’ Alannah said. If the words were dramatic, they weren’t said that way, rather Alannah sounded resigned and flat.

‘Okay,’ Holly said slowly. She sighed inwardly and pulled out a chair to sit opposite Alannah. There was nothing for it. She was definitely going to be late now. ‘Why? I mean I get why but why now? I thought you two were working things out.’

‘One minute Frankie’s all in, the next she’s pushing me away,’ Alannah said, ‘I can’t be with someone who despises me for wanting to be with her.’

‘Believe me, Frankie hates herself even more for pushing you away. And despise is probably too strong a word for what’s going on.’

‘Which is what? I’m dating someone with the emotional intelligence of a twelve year old. Actually, twelve year olds are way more together than Frankie.’

Holly smiled sympathetically. Alannah’s description of Frankie made her think of that time at 15 when she returned the thumb and Gail had confessed she was impetuous and a brat and still sometimes acted like a teenager. The saying of it—that acknowledgement—of course meant Gail wasn’t those things, not completely anyway. It had been too much for Holly to hear and it had come too late—that explanation, if that’s what you could call it, because there was something of an apology and an entreaty in it as well. Days and days of unanswered calls and text messages too late.  
Holly had already decided to move on from Gail, had persuaded herself that Gail was not right or good for her. It wasn’t an easy decision. God no. In the end it was about self-preservation. Holly had had her share of difficult relationships in her early twenties and didn’t want another. At least that’s what she told herself. 

As Holly walked away from Gail that day, her heart had other ideas because it felt like it was literally breaking, cleaved in two, the pain of it lacerating and more violent than she thought psychically possible. Even months later, when she was making a new life for herself in San Francisco, Holly was revisited by that pain. Sometimes it was just a dull ache but just as often it was as acute as it had been that day in 15. Even the memory of it was hard. Something of that must have shown in Holly’s expression because the next thing Alannah was asking if she was all right. Holly brushed it off, not wanting to distract her friend with something that was very much in the past and probably not the least bit helpful to Alannah’s situation.

‘I thought Frankie and I were different—how stupid was that,’ Alannah said, not bothering to disguise her bitterness, ‘but she’s discarded me like all the others.’

‘I wouldn’t say she’d discarded you,’ Holly said gently, ‘but it’s the classic I’ll reject you before you have a chance to reject me—because they’re certain once you find out who they really are that its inevitable you’ll leave.’

‘You’re talking about Gail now, not just Frankie,’ Alannah said, looking at Holly keenly.

Holly nodded.

‘Its hard to imagine Gail like that. I mean, she doesn’t hide how into you she is, now,’ Alannah said.

‘It was different when we first dated.’

‘I don’t know about Gail, but with Frankie it seems pushing people away is a sure guarantee the relationship is doomed to fail—a self-filling prophecy.’

‘Or they choose jerks who don’t stick around.’ Holly still felt angry when she thought about people like Nick who made Gail feel unlovable, who had dumped her and let her think she was to blame. Holly knew she should let it go. Gail thought it funny that Holly held onto that resentment, after all Gail was the first to admit she hadn’t always been the easiest person in a relationship, in fact still had her moments. 

‘I hadn’t thought about that but it makes sense. When the jerks dump them, it just confirms everything they believe about themselves.’

‘Yeah,’ Holly made a face. 

‘But I can’t see Gail sabotaging your relationship.’

Holly laughed mirthlessly. ‘We’ve had our share of drama. You’ve heard about that night at Penny.’

Alannah nodded. Everyone in their circle knew about it but they were careful not to bring it up because Gail still found it painful, in fact could only just bear to be reminded of that night. Well, that is apart from Lisa who, if she were in a churlish mood, would use what happened at the Penny, particularly the Taser line, to taunt Gail. Holly didn’t much like talking about it either, because inevitably feelings of hurt and bewilderment would resurface and, even though she was certain Gail would never treat her like that now, Holly would be reminded that Gail was capable of lashing out. Crazy thing was had they talked that night or even the day after or the day after that, they would have realized both their hearts were broken. 

‘It did sound like Lisa was being an A grade bitch,’ Alannah said.

‘Yeah, that didn’t help, especially as Gail and I hadn’t had the conversation about how we felt about each other. I kinda thought it was obvious and I didn’t want to spook Gail so I hadn’t said anything, and Gail, well she had a lot of reasons to be guarded. But Gail has worked hard to get past that. And not just her. We’ve both worked on getting rid of relationship baggage,’ Holly said. 

She had fallen in love with the old Gail, desperately, recklessly in love, but Gail was right—if the incident at the Penny hadn’t killed their chances, something else would surely have. Gail maintained they would have imploded if they’d stayed together then—and again she was very probably right. Theirs had been love at a fevered-pitch and it couldn’t be sustained. Gail said that after, when Holly had left for San Francisco and Gail had time to reflect on their relationship (if you could call it that because it was over so quickly), she realized she hadn’t been ready for it—the fact was neither of them was. 

Alannah bit her lip. ‘I wish I was enough of a reason for Frankie to get past whatever is going on.’

It was such a sad and despondent statement. It made Holly wonder how useful the inescapable but not entirely accurate comparisons between Gail and Frankie were right now. The two women were actually more dissimilar than alike. Sure there were parallels, but Frankie was bitterer than Gail and had every reason to be. Although compared to Gail, Frankie had had a fairly charmed career in the force. She hadn’t been kidnapped and drugged or shot at or knifed. No one had wrapped their hands around her neck and threatened to choke her, had stalked or obsessed over her. Frankie hadn’t even had a slushy thrown in her face while out on patrol. Nor had she been betrayed so comprehensively and so publicly by a family who had always made her feel like the failure. So, on balance, Gail had every right to be as bitter as Frankie, Holly decided, and yet she wasn’t. 

When Holly thought about her relationship with Gail now, they were no longer overwhelmed by the enormity of their feelings, and so neither she nor Gail looked for excuses to run from them. It was a gift— the love they shared—Holly knew that now, perhaps at some level had always known it but had been too scared to admit it. And now, now there was no dissembling or equivocation, no fear, just a desire to be together that was so strong it left no room for hesitation or doubt. Could the same be said of Frankie and Alannah?

‘You know with everyone else she was gone by now,’ Holly aware that she needed to say something to reassure Alannah, ‘Frankie may be acting like an ass but the fact that she’s sticking around has to mean something.’

‘I guess,’ Alannah said doubtfully.

‘Do you know much about Frankie’s upbringing?’

‘A little—she doesn’t like to talk about her childhood.’

Holly nodded. Would she be breaking confidences if she told Alannah about Frankie’s family? Not that Holly knew a huge amount—just things Gail had mentioned or Frankie let slip. Funnily enough, Frankie seemed to trust Holly with her secrets, which is why Holly knew how much she cared for Alannah. Of course, Frankie hadn’t put it in so many words but Holly read between the lines. 

'I know her mother was an alcoholic,’ Alannah said when Holly didn’t immediately speak.

‘Yeah, her mother was also emotionally abusive,’ Holly said, ‘it seems like she didn’t have a lot of love or time for her kids. She’d go on binges and leave the kids for days on end, even when they were tiny. Frankie remembers being so hungry she ate toothpaste because there was no food in the house. Plus there was a rotating cast of boyfriends, some of who beat Frankie’s mom. It is amazing Frankie managed to pull herself out of that. She once told me most of her siblings are either dead, in jail or living in rundown trailer parks.’

‘Shit,’ Alannah blew out a breath, ‘that’s—that’s really fucked up. I knew it was tough but—,’ she trailed off.

‘I sometimes wonder if Frankie doesn’t know how to be loved, and that’s just as much behind her inclination to run as fear of rejection.’

‘So you’re saying give her another chance.’

‘Only you can decide that Alannah. I’ll tell you something though, I regret waiting so long to give Gail another chance.’

‘Does it bother you that Gail used to sleep with Frankie,’ Alannah asked abruptly.

Holly shrugged. ‘I’m guessing no more than it bothers you.’

‘You and Gail are so clearly in love, plus she and Frankie seem to have consigned their thing very much to the past, so no, it’s never worried me. But I guess, with the four of us being friends, it’s a weird, well not triangle, a square?

‘Those two are anything but square,’ Holly joked, ‘but you know the lesbian community—forget six degrees of separation, it’s more like two, even in a city the size of Toronto.’

‘True and Frankie has quite a history,’ Alannah made a face. 

‘And Gail was no wallflower when I was in San Francisco,’ Holly said. At least it had confirmed to Gail that she was definitely gay—not that she’d been in any doubt once she and Holly got together. Holly had thought her perhaps a tad hasty but Gail had shrugged and said she’d never felt so sure of anything in her life. Still, Alannah was right. It was tangled. Holly was well aware Alannah had had a brief crush on Gail. God, what if they’d met and had a thing while Holly was in San Francisco. It would have made this situation positively labyrinthine.

After that Holly said she really had to get to the morgue, but the forlorn cast of Alannah’s face made her suggest the surgeon return for a drink after work. ‘We’ll figure something out,’ she promised, ‘maybe Gail will have some ideas.’ Alannah’s eager acceptance of the invitation convinced Holly she was far from ready to give up on Frankie.

Sitting in the traffic, which of course was worse because she’d left home so late, Holly couldn’t help but think Alannah’s predicament tediously familiar. How many messages had Holly left for Gail after that disastrous night at the Penny? Holly was embarrassed to admit the number even to herself. And yes she’d counted every single one. And as each one went unanswered—as Gail maintained her radio silence—Holly got more and more dispirited and more and more hurt and then she got angry. That’s when Gail had appeared at the morgue with the thumb, asking Holly for a drink and trying to act all casual as if it were just a tiny misunderstanding and they needed to clear the air. 

That day in the morgue, Holly was filled with a cold fury and it wasn’t just because Gail had ignored her, had shut her out so fast that Holly, who had believed she was different, that they were different —I mean they told each other stuff, right—felt foolish and hurt and kicked herself for being so easily duped, for not holding something in reserve in the face of the tempest that was Gail. For falling too hard, too fast, just like Lisa said. No, it wasn’t just that she was hurting—and determined not to show Gail how much. No, what made Holly maddest of all was the fact that she wanted to gather Gail in her arms and kiss her again and again and to hell with all those unanswered messages. 

Instead, Holly had put up her own barriers—distant and cool, she gave Gail nothing. She imagined it would make her feel better, but there was no victory in seeing Gail made subdued and small by remorse. And later that day, Holly found herself standing in the hall at 15, desperately holding back her tears. In that moment she couldn’t believe she was the most wonderful person Gail had ever met, and even if it were true, the revelation had come too late. Holly had said goodnight with a finality that was forced and full of regret and intended to convince herself, as much as Gail, that it was over between them. 

Those revelatory words and the way Gail said them—sincere, open, a little plaintively—had stayed with Holly and weeks later made her retrace her steps to 15, to drag Gail into another interrogation room, to give them another chance even if San Francisco was fourteen days away and the hope of Gail following her there such a slim one. So Holly understood where Alannah was at and she didn’t envy her one bit. 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

‘Any chance that’s a John Doe you’re putting together?’

Holly looked up from the autopsy table to see Gail framed by the doorway, a big grin on her face. That smile made Holly’s heart trip, every time. Could she have stood it if that smile was reserved for someone other than her—what if Holly had returned to Toronto and found Gail had a girlfriend, could she have stomached being one of Gail’s exes? Just at that moment, Frankie appeared at Gail’s shoulder, scowling.

‘Detectives,’ Holly said, ‘I’m afraid I have to disappoint you. Definitely a Jane Doe.’

‘Are you sure?’ Frankie said.

Holly raised an eyebrow.

‘What kind of question is that Anderson,’ Gail demanded, ‘have you seen how many degrees Holly has.’

‘Take a look at the pelvis. It’s wider than a male’s,’ Holly said, biting her lip to supress her smile. There was something very sweet, and to be honest quite sexy, about Gail defending her honor. ‘The pelvic outlet is wide enough to allow a baby to pass thorough during birth.’

‘Jeez,’ Frankie said, ‘you reckon that’s big enough for a baby to get through. Makes me glad I’ll never have kids.’

‘I’m guessing you skipped biology classes in high school,’ Holly chuckled, ‘the ligaments soften and stretch during labor which allows the pelvic outlet to expand. Even before that, during pregnancy, women release extra progesterone which loosens muscles and ligaments.’

‘Huh,’ Frankie said, clearly unimpressed. 

Holly wondered if Alannah knew Frankie had ruled out kids. She’d never heard the neurosurgeon mention children but just a week ago when they met for coffee, Holly had witnessed Alannah gushing over a baby who was with his mother at the next table. He was a cute baby. Big dimples and the curliest blonde hair and little fat fists that grabbed at Alannah’s hair when she leaned in to smile and goo at him. Still, Holly probably shouldn’t read too much into Alannah’s reaction, her job at the hospital didn’t leave any room for kids. Come to think of it, before meeting Gail that was exactly what Holly used to say about her own job. 

‘Thousands of years of evolution and that’s it,’ Frankie waved her hand in the direction of the pelvis, sounding peeved, like evolution itself had personally affronted her.

‘Millions of years,‘ Holly corrected absentmindedly, ‘Homo sapiens have been around for 100, 000 years but some scientists claim hominids diverged from the ape lineage eight million years ago.’

‘So plenty of time to come up with a less barbaric method of giving birth,’ Frankie declared, ‘must make you want to reconsider this whole baby thing, Peck.’ Frankie bumped Gail’s shoulder, which made Gail glare.

Holly shot Gail a sympathetic smile. Frankie was on the insufferable side this morning, full of swagger and bravado. It was just a cover. Holly realized that. She bet the detective wasn’t feeling too good about the way she’d left things with Alannah.

‘Maybe you should think about surrogacy,’ Frankie was continuing on the baby track, ignoring Gail’s frown, ‘Holly could afford it. What about adoption? On paper you two sound like well-adjusted people—good incomes, stable jobs, awesome friends like me. Yeah, adoption—I think that’s your answer.’ The final word died in her mouth. ‘Shit,’ Frankie said, suddenly and uncharacteristically wretched, ‘shit. I didn’t think Gail.’

Now that was an understatement, Holly decided, just for a minute wishing she had the power to order Frankie out of the morgue. Gail bit her lip. The whole Sophie thing still cut deep. And yes Sophie was settled with a good family and yes Gail saw her once in a while and the two of them usually celebrated by eating too much junk food. Still, Holly couldn’t help but wonder if she’d stuck around whether Gail would have been given custody of Sophie. Then again, the Peck scandal probably put pay to the adoption, and in all honesty, if she and Gail weren’t ready to commit to each other then, how could they have committed to a child. 

An awkward silence settled in the lab. It was probably mere seconds but seemed to stretch longer. Gail was the first to speak. ‘While Frankie gets her foot out of her mouth, you might want to continue Dr Stewart,’ she said. 

Holly shot her a look of concern but the impassive Peck mask was firmly in place so she continued on as Gail requested. ‘Regardless of the pelvis, you can tell this is a woman by the diameters of the heads of the humerus—the upper arm bone—and the radius, see here,’ Holly pointed to the lower arm bone on the thumb side, ‘and the femur are consistent with a female. Those bones tend to be much larger in males.’

‘And the sciatic notch is wider,’ came a voice. The three women looked up from the autopsy table to see a man dressed in a lab coat and bearing two cups of coffee. 

Gail recognised him as the forensic anthropologist, Ashton Chatterjee. She and Frankie had met him on a case about two years back. Bones once again. A kid doing drug drops for a small time dealer. It was cheaper to use kids as runners and they had a network of potential buyers at school. If they got caught, the courts tended to be lenient. This boy was only fourteen—missing for six years—turned out the dealer thought he’d stiffed him and decided to kill him as a warning to others tempted to rip him off.

‘Dr Chatterjee,’ Holly smiled, ‘have you met the detectives?’

‘Ashton please, no need for formalities,’ Dr Chatterjee said, ‘I know these two well.’ His eyes were twinkling but there was something in his tone.

‘Okay, should I be worried?’ Holly asked.

‘No,’ Ashton chuckled, ‘after a very successful resolution to a case, Detective Peck insisted on plying me with tequila and I woke up with a hangover the like of which I had not experienced since I was an undergraduate. Your coffee.’ He held out the cup to Holly who stripped off her gloves and took it eagerly.

‘Hey, what happened to the no food or drink in the lab rule,’ Gail asked with faux outrage. 

‘Oh,’ Holly looked sheepish. ‘I was desperate for a coffee and Ashton kindly offered to get one and so—‘

‘It was purely in the interests of ensuring an autopsy got done today,’ Ashton joked, ‘I know Holly functions better with coffee.’

‘You didn’t have time for one this morning?’ Gail asked softly. She took a step towards Holly and looked like she was about to touch her wrist but hesitated. Holly shook her head. ‘You slept in?’

‘I might have done,’ Holly said a little tartly, and then abruptly changed the subject, ‘why did you think our victim was male?’

So Gail and Frankie explained what they had learned that morning.

‘You’re thinking it could be this Melanie—‘ Holly broke off.

‘Melanie Fisher, yes,’ Gail nodded, ‘Dov will have emailed you her medical and dental records. ’

‘The teeth are fairly intact. We should be able to let you know in a couple of hours if it’s Melanie,’ Holly said.

‘Any idea how she died?’ Frankie asked.

‘It’s a little early to be definitive,’ Ashton said, ‘but we’ve found fractures consistent with falling from a height.’

‘Falling?’ Gail asked.

‘Falling or pushed,’ Holly said.

‘Like down a flight of stairs?’

‘It’s possible,’ Holly said, ‘plus her skull has a deep depression. I’d say that’s what killed her. It could have been caused by the fall or it’s possible she was struck with an object.’

‘So definitely homicide,’ Frankie said.

‘It looks that way, but Dr Chatterjee and I have only done a preliminary examination. We should know more by the end of the day.’

‘Okay, let us know if anything else comes up,’ Frankie said.

‘Of course,’ Holly smiled, ‘and we’ll notify you once we’ve established if this is Melanie Fisher.’

Gail started to follow Frankie out of the room but as she reached the door she turned around. ‘Hey Ashton,’ she said, ‘did your son get accepted into forensics?’

‘Yes. He’s at the University of British Columbia,’ Dr Chatterjee beamed.

‘Holly’s alma mater,’ Gail said.

‘Indeed. The most prestigious forensic course in Canada,’ Dr Chatterjee said proudly.

‘Oh so he’ll be taught by the great Professor Dukas. That man is an inspiration,’ Holly gushed, ‘what he doesn’t know about forensics isn’t worth knowing.’

‘Dukas,’ Gail said sharply, ‘his name is Dukas.’

‘Yeah.’ Holly looked at Gail questioningly, ‘does the name ring a bell?’

‘Only that that’s the last name of your boyfriend from yesterday—Costa Dukas and he knew a lot about forensics.’

‘My boy–,’ Holly looked even more perplexed, ‘oh you mean the guy who offered to carry my forensic kit. Come to think of it, he could be the Professor’s son. He looks like him. Professor Dukas had children and I know one of them—a boy—was causing the Professor and his wife a bit of trouble. That was back when I was at British Columbia and the son was a teenager and Costa’s what, early thirties, so it could be him.’

‘And there I was thinking he’d watched too many National Geographic docos,’ Gail said dryly, which made Holly laugh. ‘Well, we better let you get on with your bone divination,’ Gail waved a hand in the direction of the autopsy table. 

‘Yes because that’s what all my medical degrees have qualified me for,’ Holly smirked, ‘maybe I can divine my future while I’m at it.’

'As long as I'm in it,' Gail smiled impishly and then, embarrassed by her mushiness, turned to go so quickly she missed Holly's fond smile.

On impulse, Holly followed Gail out into the corridor. She wasn’t quite sure what drove her to do it. Only a few hours had passed since they’d been sharing the same bed so it wasn’t as if Holly hadn’t seen Gail for a long while and was missing her—which sometimes happened when the two of them were mired in different cases and working long, unsociable hours. Perhaps it was because Alannah’s problems with Frankie were an unsettling reminder of that time—that horrible, miserable time—when she and Gail split. 

‘Gail can I speak to you privately? Just for a minute,’ Holly asked, sounding serious.

Gail frowned as if trying to figure out if she’d done something wrong.

‘I’ll wait in the car,’ Frankie said, ‘I need to make some calls anyway.’

As Frankie walked off down the corridor, Holly took Gail’s hand and pulled her into one of the smaller labs. It was empty and dark and Holly shut the door behind them, not bothering to turn on the lights. Before Gail could say anything, Holly was kissing her. It reminded Gail of that second time in the interrogation room—really you’d think she’d anticipate Holly’s ambushes by now. Recognise the signs. There was no blue file though. The kisses were just as intense but now she and Holly were together no longer held that edge of desperation.

Finally, Holy pulled back.

‘Not that I’m complaining,’ Gail said, ‘but what brought that on.’

‘Oh, you know,’ Holly said vaguely, her arms slung around Gail’s neck.

‘No, actually I don’t know. Otherwise I wouldn’t ask.’

‘Well,’ Holly stopped, suddenly looking shy, and then continued in a rush, ‘I might have liked the way you stood up for me back there when Frankie was being an ass.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail grinned. She took Holly by the shoulders and backed her up against the door. Leaning in to kiss Holly, Gail first teased at her lips, pulling the bottom one between her own. Holly let out a little moan and Gail took the opportunity to intensify the kiss, and Holly eagerly parted her lips. She pressed herself into Gail, placing her hands on Gail’s ass to bring her closer still. Gail moved her hand to Holly’s breast, making Holly gasp a little and wonder at how quickly this had escalated. Just as a voice in the back of Holly’s head was telling her this was completely inappropriate at work, Gail abruptly pulled back.

‘Later,’ she said.

‘What?’ Holly asked, feeling dazed and unable to articulate any thought, let alone have one beyond an awareness of the sensations Gail had caused. ‘You can’t start something like that and, and, and just stop,’ she stammered.

‘I started it? Who dragged me in here?’ Gail smirked, ‘you have bones to divine. I have criminals to catch. So—’ she left the rest of the sentence hanging.

‘So a raincheck,’ Holly nodded, knowing Gail was right to be sensible and not sure what had overcome her. What had she actually been thinking? Dr Chatterjee was waiting for her in the next room and hadn’t she explicitly banned sex at work. Okay, there was that one time on the couch in her office but it was still a rule and oh god she was the deputy chief of forensics and this was no way to behave.

‘You just find me irresistible,’ Gail grinned impishly, like she was privy to Holly’s tortured thought process, ‘that’s why you keep dragging me into darkened rooms.’

‘Go,’ Holly said, giving Gail a little shove but she was laughing because of course Gail was right.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Ah um Detective Peck,’ Duncan said as Gail and Frankie walked into the station.

‘Yeah Gerald,’ Gail said disinterestedly.

‘Um ah its Duncan, um can I have um a word in private.’

The fact that Holly had literally just said almost the exact same thing to her—without all the stammering— and then pulled her into an empty lab for some very non-work related activity threw Gail. Just for a second. She didn’t think Duncan had any intention of dragging her into an interrogation room and ravishing her. And ugh what a thought. Enough to make her feel like she could almost taste vomit in her mouth.

‘Are you okay?’ Duncan asked.

‘What,’ Gail said and then realized she was scowling at the thought of that kind of alone time with Duncan. ‘Yeah, yeah,’ she flapped her hand dismissively, ‘what is it?’

‘Um, ah,’ Duncan said.

Gail sighed. ‘It would be good to know before Christmas.’

Duncan colored and lowered his voice. ‘This morning um Greg and I um, ah pulled um Dr Stewart over for speeding.’

Holly must have really slept in, Gail thought. ‘And you’re telling me this because?’

‘I didn’t book her, you know I figured she was on the way to work and ah it was probably an urgent case so um I just gave her a warning.’

‘If she was speeding, you should have booked her,’ Gail said, ‘who’s Greg anyway?’

‘Greg Officer. A rookie, um he just started. He was introduced at parade.’

‘Oh, you mean Officer Officer,’ Gail smirked, ‘the reduplicate policeman.’

‘Huh,’ Duncan said, looking confused.

‘Or we could just call him ditto I guess,’ Gail said in that syrupy tone of hers and with a big fake smile.

Duncan laughed uncertainly.

Gail sighed in exasperation. Duncan really wasn’t all together there. He was so dull messing with him wasn’t even fun. ‘Okay, Gerald, in future if you catch Dr Stewart speeding, you book her.’

‘Um I guess,’ Duncan said doubtfully, ‘and it’s Duncan.

Gail looked at him indifferently and shrugged. ‘Yeah, I know that.’

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘So you and Detective Peck are, ah, an item,’ Dr Chatterjee said when Holly returned to the autopsy suite. She’d had to make a detour via the bathroom to straighten her hair and splash cold water on her face.

‘You picked up on that,’ Holly said.

Dr Chatterjee nodded. ‘Her concern for you is very sweet.’

‘Sweet—don’t tell Gail that,’ Holly chuckled, ‘it won’t do her reputation any good.’

‘You know, underneath that, ah—‘ Dr Chatterjee hesitated.

‘Icy exterior?’ Holly supplied. She was quite used to people describing Gail as such even if it annoyed the hell out of her.

‘I wouldn’t call it that, but Detective Peck is one of the most compassionate police officers I’ve worked with, as well as the one most able to hold her liquor.’

‘Oh yes,’ Holly laughed, ‘she can drink most people under the table.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘For you,’ Gail dropped a card on Frankie’s desk.

‘What,’ Frankie swivelled around in her chair.

‘Leslie recommended her. She and Dr Barrett trained together. Couple’s counselling is her speciality.’

‘Is that where you disappeared to—you were seeing your shrink. I thought you were having another long lunch,’ Frankie said a wink, wink, nudge, nudge sort of way.

‘I told you about it Anderson. It’s a regular appointment.’

‘Whatever, but I don’t need a shrink,’ Frankie grunted.

‘You want to save your relationship with Alannah?’ Gail asked.

‘Thing is I don’t think there is anything to save.’ Just for a moment Frankie dropped her guard and Gail saw something Frankie rarely showed—hurt and fear and vulnerability—and then almost immediately the shutters were back in place. ‘I don’t need a shrink to tell me how fucked up I am. I know that already,’ she said bitterly.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

‘No prints, I’m afraid. Francine must have been wearing gloves,’ Rodney said. 

‘So we can’t even prove its Francine,’ Holly blew out a breath and stepped away from the autopsy table. ‘Have you told Gail and Frankie?’

Rodney nodded, ‘And Fiona Vincent.’

‘And what did they say.’

‘Much the same as you,’ Rodney made a rueful face, ‘I wish I could have done more to help.’

‘Oh Rodney this is not your responsibility,’ Holly hastily reassured him, ‘thanks for all you’ve done.’

Rodney inclined his head shyly. ‘How are you going with this?’ he indicated the bones on the autopsy table.

‘Just established an id,’ Dr Chatterjee said. He’d been observing the exchange between Rodney and Holly with concern, ‘a missing person. Melanie Fisher. Her dental records confirmed it.’

‘I guess it will bring the family some peace,’ Rodney offered.

‘Never easy though,’ Dr Chatterjee said.

‘No,’ Rodney agreed sympathetically, ‘I need to get back to work, but Dr Stewart if there’s anything I can do,’ he trailed off.

‘Thanks Rodney,’ Holly smiled.

‘What was that about?’ Dr Chatterjee asked when Rodney left, his tone kind rather than curious.

‘A long story,’ Holly sighed.

‘I’m a good listener.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

‘I know it’s been four years, but we always hoped Melanie had just run off. Maybe had some kind of episode,’ Margie Fisher said mournfully.

Gail hated these kinds of visits. The ‘I’m sorry for your loss but before you can grieve, or even actually absorb this information, I’m going to question you about your loved one’s every last move and I might even decide you are a suspect’ visits. It hadn’t taken Holly and Dr Chatterjee long to confirm the remains were those of Melanie Fisher. Which was why Gail and Frankie were sitting on the spongy floral couch in the lounge room at the Fisher residence, drinking milky over-brewed coffee, and desperately trying to say something to assuage the Fishers’ grief.

‘Did Melanie have a history of metal illness?’ Frankie asked.

‘No, why would you think that,’ Bernie Fisher snapped.

‘Just that Mrs Fisher mentioned it,’ Frankie said evenly. She knew not to take offence in these situations. People were hardly at their best. 

‘I guess we were trying to think of any explanation apart from her being, being,’ Bernie said more evenly before breaking off.

‘Dead,’ Margie said, her voice barley above a whisper. She was sitting on the edge of her chair, her arms clasped around her body, rocking back and forward just slightly in a numb sort of way.

‘I know you went through this with the detectives when you reported Melanie missing but is there anyone who you can think of who might have wanted to cause her harm?’ Frankie pressed.

Margie and Bernie shook their heads.

‘What about Mitchell Cormann.’

‘Oh god, he was devastated when she went missing,’ Bernie said.

‘He was the sweetest man,’ Margie stopped her rocking and looked directly at Gail, ‘the lengths he went to in order to find her. He never gave up.’

‘You were close to Mitchell?’

‘Oh yes. He was like family. They’d only been dating for a year but he made Melanie so happy. Before that she’d been in an abusive marriage—it took her ten years to leave that, that bastard.’ 

The way Margie said bastard Gail got the impression she wasn’t used to swearing, which in itself conveyed her total abhorrence of Melanie’s ex-husband. Gail had read the file. Keith Unger had been vicious and cruel to Melanie but had been cleared of any involvement in her disappearance. Out of town and with a strong alibi.

‘After Melanie disappeared, Mitchell would visit at least once a week to update us on his search for her,’ Bernie added.

‘So it must have come as a shock when he disappeared as well?’ Gail said.

‘You have no idea. We saw it on the news. That useless brother of his didn’t even have the courtesy to tell us.’

‘You mean Len?’ Frankie asked.

‘Yep,’ Bernie said tightly, ‘that man is not good news. He made it clear he didn’t have any time for Melanie but then I caught him watching her a few times and I didn’t like it.’

‘How do you mean?’ Frankie said.

‘Like an unhealthy obsession.’

‘Why didn’t you mention this when she disappeared?’

‘I did,’ Bernie said, ‘but I think the police dismissed it as the imaginings of a demented old man.’

‘I’m sorry if that’s the case,’ Frankie said, ‘is it possible Len was just being protective of his younger brother? I understand they were fairly close.’

‘Close,’ Margie laughed mirthlessly, ‘is that what Len told you? Those brothers were like Cain and Able. Len was obsessed with proving he was better than Mitch. He put him down constantly. It started when they were children and Len was desperate for his father’s approval.’

‘If you’re looking for a suspect, I wouldn’t put it past Len to have murdered both Melanie and Mitchell,’ Bernie said heavily.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

It was already dark outside when Frankie and Gail left the Fisher’s house.

‘So what do you think,’ Gail said once they were in the car, ‘could Len have murdered Melanie and then killed Mitchell when he found out?’

‘I guess we can’t rule it out,’ Frankie shrugged, ‘not that I’m trying to dismiss it, but the Fishers seem to have quite a grudge against Len. We need to talk to Mitchell’s and Melanie’s friends—get their impression of the relationship between the three.’

Gail nodded. ‘You coming back to my place?’ As she spoke, Gail realized that in the past she’d used those exact same words to invite Frankie back for sex. How things had changed. Words that were once charged held no such meaning anymore, and she and Frankie had settled into a friendship that was far stronger than either of them was prepared to openly admit. Stronger too than anything they had shared when they slept together. Then it was just physical intimacy without any real emotional intimacy.

‘Yep. You and Holly are stuck with me.’

‘I better pray Francine surfaces soon then,’ Gail sassed.

Frankie rolled her eyes.

‘Hey can we stop at the store. I need to get some things for dinner.’

‘Well, if you’re going to feed me sure.’

‘Actually, my intention was to feed Holly and myself, but,’ Gail paused and pretended to contemplate, ‘I guess there’ll be enough for you.’

‘Funny Peck.’

In the store, Gail piled tofu and greens and bean sprouts into a basket.

‘What are you making Peck?’ Frankie wrinkled her nose.

‘Vegetarian stir-fry.’

‘You eat that healthy shit?’

‘Uh yeah. Holly likes it.’

‘Hen-pecked Peck,’ Frankie muttered as they lined up at the checkout.

This time it was Gail who rolled her eyes.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

When they arrived back at the house, Gail and Frankie found Holly and Alannah sitting at the kitchen table drinking wine. 

‘Oh hey,’ Holly said merrily. Gail couldn’t figure out if she’d had a few or was trying to cover for the fact that their arrival had interrupted an intense conversation about Frankie. Maybe a bit of both, but Alannah was looking mighty awkward so Gail would put her money on a heart-to-heart. She leant down to kiss Holly, smiling herself as Holly smiled against her lips. As Gail straightened, she could swear Alannah was looking at them enviously. 

Frankie was leaning against the doorjamb and made no move to greet Alannnah. It was so obvious to everyone it was literally like a great big elephant in the room. Now it was Frankie’s turn to look uncomfortable. She was shifting from foot to foot as if preparing to take off at any moment.

‘Are you staying for dinner, Alannah?’ Gail asked as she began to unpack the shopping.

‘Ah,’ Alannah hedged.

‘You may as well,’ Holly smiled warmly, ‘anyway you’ve probably drunk too much wine to be driving right now. Wouldn’t want to be stopped by a patrol car.’

‘Speaking of which,’ Gail raised her eyebrows.

‘Oh shit, you heard about that,’ Holly blushed in embarrassment, ‘I tried to get Duncan to write me a ticket. It got completely absurd. I kept saying he should and he kept insisting no. He was with that ass Officer too.’

‘Okay, hold up,’ Frankie said, ‘I’m guessing Gerald pulled you over for speeding, Holly.’

Holly nodded.

‘And was Officer rude to you?’

‘No,’ Holly blew out a breath. She’d meant to tell Gail about Officer last night but with all the drama around Francine had completely forgotten. Nor had she had a chance to mention it to Oliver. 

‘So why is he an ass?’ Frankie asked, clearly sensing there was more to this story.

‘He was just mouthing off at the crime scene yesterday. Natasha finally went and told him to shut up.’

‘Mouthing off about what?’ Gail was suddenly very still.

‘Um, the Pecks and you,’ Holly winced, anticipating that Gail wouldn’t take this news well.

‘The usual crap then. The ball breaking Ice Queen?’ Strangely Gail didn’t seem perturbed. Holly knew she was used to the gossip, perhaps even inured to it. Gail might go mad otherwise. It didn’t make it any easy to hear, that Holly was certain of.

‘He said he wouldn’t be surprised if you were corrupt.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail twisted her mouth with distaste.

‘Holly, tomorrow I’m going to make Gerald write you a ticket and you’re going to pay it right away,’ Frankie said decisively, ‘I don’t want Officer on Gail’s case. I’ll talk to Oliver too. Sounds like Officer needs a kick up the ass.’

Holly nodded. She should have thought through the implications. If Officer thought Duncan was doing Gail a favour by not booking her and decided to report it up the line, it could lead to all kinds of trouble.

‘They had their body cams on,’ Holly remembered, ‘it’ll prove I was practically begging for a ticket.’

Gail smiled at her. ‘As only a nerd would,’ she teased, apparently not nearly as concerned as Frankie about Officer, ‘and there I was this morning joking about him being the reduplicate policeman.’

‘The tautonym,’ Holly suggested.

‘The taut what?’ Gail asked.

‘It’s a common naming convention in zoology but actually forbidden in biology, but when the same word is used for both the species and genus it’s called a tautonym.’

‘Yeah,’ Alannah agreed, ‘like rattus rattus.’

Gail grinned. ‘I think we’ve just found a new name for Officer Officer.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘What you doing, Peck?’ 

It was after dinner—Frankie, despite her protests about healthy crap, had managed a second helping without any difficulty. Holly had gone upstairs to do some work while Alannah and Gail cleaned up and Frankie sat on her ass with the excuse she’d done all the driving that day. 

‘Thought it was pretty obvious. I’m guessing you’ve seen this handy household device before,’ Gail held up the iron.

‘Yeah but clearly Holly hasn’t,’ Frankie said. She pointed at the ironing board, ‘those aren’t your pants.’

‘Ever the detective,’ Gail scowled, ‘Holly has court tomorrow.’

‘And you’re ironing her clothes because—‘ Frankie broke off and looked at Gail expectantly.

Gail shrugged. ‘Ironing’s not Holly’s thing but Elaine made damn sure I knew how to put a crease in a pair of trousers.’

‘That’s sweet,’ Alannah said, ‘not the Elaine part but that you do that for Holly.’ 

Out of habit Gail started to scowl, then stopped. There was something about Alannah that made her less guarded. It was weird and kind of refreshing too because sometimes Gail wondered if Holly was the only person in the entire world she could open up to. 

Frankie started laughing. ‘Jesus Peck, you are hen-pecked. You cook, you clean, you iron. What does Holly do in return?’

‘Plenty,’ Gail said a touch defensively.

Frankie arched an eyebrow like it was a challenge. She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, her boots up on the table. 

‘Frankie,’ Alannah said warningly.

‘You know stuff,’ Gail said. She finished with the trousers, which she draped expertly over a clothes hanger, and was making a start on Holly’s shirt, which unusually was a crisp white. Most of Holly’s shirts were coloured but for court she liked to keep it simple. You don’t want to distract a jury with a lurid outfit she’d explained to Gail. White said you were serious and professional, and it didn’t hurt that it set off Holly’s olive skin. 

She was such a sexy nerd Gail bet she had all the jurors eating out of her hand. Gail certainly would be if she were on the jury. It didn’t hurt that Holly had this knack of explaining science in a way that not only made sense but was also enthralling and before long you found yourself swept up by her enthusiasm. Gail sometimes teased that she was the Brian Cox of forensics and really should have her own TV show. Plus she had a brain the size of a planet and regularly ran rings around defence lawyers. It made Holly a compelling witness and a favourite among the prosecutors.

‘Oh I get it, sex,’ Frankie drawled, ‘whipped, that’s what you are hen-pecked Peck.’

‘Holly,’ Gail paused and put the iron down. She bit her lip and appeared to be quite lost in thought, her gazed fixed on something in the middle distance. All at once she blew out a breath and turned to Frankie, like she’d settled on something. Then she started to speak in a way that was ethereal yet sure, her voice soft and the words seeming to take shape of their own accord.

‘Holly keeps my feet warm at night,’ Gail said, ‘she holds me when I wake from a nightmare about Perick, even when I’m soaked with sweat, and waits for me to fall back asleep. She never forgets I can’t eat raw tomatoes and hate eggs. She rubs my back when it’s sore after a long day at work and makes me promise to wake her when I come in after working nights. She calls me on my shit but in the nicest possible way so I actually listen to what she has to say,’ Gail paused. 

Alannah and Frankie looked at her expectantly. They were completely still, as if conscious that a sudden movement might break the spell and Gail would stop speaking altogether. You could literally hear a pin drop in the kitchen. The only sounds the low hum of the refrigerator and the intermittent puff of steam from the iron, which started as a weirdly truncated gurgle and, as the vapour escaped, morphed into a soft pfft pfft noise.

‘Holly makes me laugh,’ Gail began again, ‘especially at the dumb shit people do, including me. She tolerates Elaine but doesn’t let her overstep. She makes me feel like I belong and that life can be wonderful. And crazily and luckily for me, Holly loves me for who I am, every part of me, even the difficult and broken bits, and she doesn’t judge or try to change me. She makes me feel like I’m someone worth loving. And most of all, she shows me that I can love someone like that, unconditionally, absolutely. So yeah, Holly does plenty. And this ironing,’ Gail waved her hand dismissively at the ironing board, ‘well, let’s just say I think I’m getting the better deal.’

For a moment Frankie and Alannah didn’t say anything. Maybe she’d stunned them into silence. Stupefied them. Actually, at the moment, that might be a better description of her. The only person more surprised that Frankie and Alannah by Gail’s candour was Gail herself. Now she’d finished speaking, something very much like panic was rising in her chest and she wished Frankie or Alannah would say something, anything. Then again who knew what they might say. Well, Frankie was guaranteed to make her feel like she’d just made an idiot of herself. Maybe she could convince Frankie and Alannah that she was having an out of body experience or was in a fugue state. That could explain it. Then maybe they wouldn’t think her so foolish. Then again maybe she could just bang the iron into her forehead repeatedly.

‘I thought Holly was the rambler,’ Frankie finally said.

Gail rolled her eyes. Why had she divulged so much? Was it just because she resented Frankie’s implication that Holly didn’t do anything for her? Gail didn’t make a habit of revealing her feelings, well only to Holly and usually when they were alone. She knew from bitter past experience that owning up to feelings made you vulnerable, that people sometimes used what you said in an unguarded moment of tenderness against you, but for some reason of late her feelings seemed to be slipping out unbidden.

‘That was beautiful,’ Alannah said quietly, ‘you’re lucky to have found each other.’

‘I’m lucky Holly gave me a second chance,’ Gail said, flicking her eyes across to Frankie. Alannah followed her gaze. ‘I’m a big fan of second chances.’

‘But both of you wanted it to work,’ Alannah said.

‘True,’ Gail shifted her gaze back to the doctor, ‘and I’m lucky Holly makes allowances for the fact I’m emotionally stunted.’

‘Hardly,’ Alannah smiled, ‘I know my share of emotionally challenged people and believe me you’re not one.’

‘Hmm,’ Gail said non-committedly. She’d resumed the ironing and now put the finishing touches on Holly’s shirt. ‘Well, I going to bed.’ She looked across at Frankie and nodded but the detective barely responded. She seemed to be in a mood. Alannah noticed it too and smiled weakly at Gail as she left the room.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Frankie was in Chloe’s old room. Gail and Holly had turned it into the guest room when Chloe moved out. Frankie guessed they would transform it into a nursery before too long. When she and Gail had had their thing, children had never been mentioned. Not that that was surprising. Gail was still smarting from losing Sophie. Smarting—who was Frankie kidding—Gail had been grieving. It was just that the grief was rolled up in a big ball of sorrow that kind of snowballed—losing Holly, Steve’s betrayal, the pieces Perick took and all the other hurts that over the years had layered on. 

Gail drank a lot then and was reckless. Too eager to be the first in when there was a bust and always up for casual sex. In the face of that promiscuity, Frankie convinced herself it was better she took Gail home at the end of the night than a random stranger. At least she’d never hurt Gail. They might snipe and carp at each other, but Frankie had gone out of her way not to be like any of the others. It was why she was such an asshole to Holly when she showed up at that conference in Chicago. How did she know the forensic pathologist wasn’t gong to mess up Gail again? 

Frankie was pulling off her boots when Alannah came back from the bathroom. She was dressed in a t-shirt supplied by Holly and seemed tentative. Frankie hated that. Hated that she eventually did that to all her girlfriends. Like they were scared to spook her. It reminded her of her mother. Always walking around on eggshells, making sure the kids kept quiet and out of the way. It didn’t take much to set those guys off—Sherry just had to look at them the wrong way. That string of no-hopers Sherry shacked up with—failure making them violent and cruel and hateful, each and every one of them a fucking misogynist. Frankie swore nobody would do that to her. 

Alannah was hovering by the door, holding her folded clothing.

‘Should I sleep on the couch,’ Frankie offered.

‘Is that what you want?’ Alannah asked. She looked directly at Frankie, not tentative anymore but challenging. It unnerved Frankie. She realized that what she’d taken as timorousness was a quiet resolve like Alannah had decided on something.

‘That’s not why I’m asking,’ Frankie said, hating the self-righteousness in her tone and the biliousness, ‘it seems like you don’t even want to be in the same room as me, let alone share a bed.’

Alannah stared at her hard. Frankie couldn’t figure out what her expression meant. She needed Gail here to interpret—she was good at reading people, well except when she was getting back with Holly, then she seemed to flounder almost as much as Frankie. Not that Frankie ever admitted she floundered. Oh no. She was Frankie Anderson. Player extraordinaire. A legend in bed. Heart of stone. Untouchable. If she said those things often enough, she might even believe them.

‘So it’s probably better if I sleep on the couch.’ Frankie found herself faltering under Alannah’s gaze.

She wished she were braver. She wished she could be like Gail, so sure of her feelings and so certain they were reciprocated she could just blurt them out like that in the kitchen while she was doing the goddamm ironing. Frankie might have made a stupid joke about Gail rambling but in truth she admired and even envied her. But being open like that, it made you vulnerable. It meant people could stomp all over your heart. Frankie knew that. How many times had she seen it happen to her mother? How many times had her mother done it to her? How many times had it happened to Gail? 

When Frankie met her, Gail was quite shutdown. That first time they’d had sex, well immediately after, Gail had looked sad and small. Frankie didn’t know then that she was the first after Holly. She’d made some acerbic comment about Gail’s glum face and Gail had taken it as a challenge, pushing Frankie back down on the bed to make her come again, Gail’s hands rough and impatient and sure and Frankie couldn’t get enough of her. After that Gail never shown that face to Frankie again. The walls back up. It didn’t bother Frankie because Frankie knew about walls, had her own firmly in place and so couldn’t very well criticise Gail for putting up barriers.

Last night after everyone had left, and Gail and Holly had gone upstairs to bed, Frankie asked Alannah to stay. ‘It’s late,’ she’d muttered, not looking Alannah in the eye, and feeling like a callow teenager, shuffling and awkward. She didn’t get why Alannah made her act this way.

In bed they lay side by side, not touching. Frankie was certain that just like her Alannah was staring at the ceiling. She could only just make it out in the darkness, which meant they were literally looking at nothing. A void. Frankie decided that was apt seeing as both literally and metaphorically she was facing a void. She was convinced Alannah was about to end it. That thought made her heart stutter and stop but instead of telling Alannah that, she was overcome by a weird sort of paralysis. Like the condemned man, hands tied behind his back and his neck in the slack noose, waiting for the hangman.

‘You know a surgeon at work asked me out today,’ Alannah said finally, her voice surprisingly conversational. ‘On a date,’ she added in case Frankie didn’t get her meaning, ‘a perfectly nice, well-adjusted surgeon who decided she liked me and wasn’t afraid to say so.’

Frankie held her breath and, when Alannah didn’t continue speaking, asked ‘And what did you do?’

‘What do you think Frankie,’ Alannah’s voice remained even but Frankie detected a hint of scorn, ‘I told her I have a girlfriend.’

Frankie let out a long breath—loud enough that Alannah must have heard it.

‘Thing is, do I have a girlfriend? I saw how you reacted when Gail called you that,’ Alannah said, her voice more flat than even now.

‘Um,’ Frankie said. Her heart was beating wildly and her head was fuzzy and she felt incapable of coherent thought, never mind constructing an intelligible sentence. She wondered if she was having a panic attack. Alannah would know but she couldn’t very well ask her. ‘Um,’ Frankie said again and cursed her inarticulateness. Alannah lay very still but Frankie could feel her drawing away. It was like Frankie was on a shore and Alannah was retreating further and further until she was nothing but a speck on the horizon, a judder where the sky met the earth.

‘You know we don’t need labels,’ Frankie said, finding her voice and settling on this obfuscation. It might convince Alannah. Sophistry, that’s what her English teacher in 11th grade had called it. She was young and beautiful and straight out of university and apparently straight and Frankie had fucked her and then fucked her over, but by then she had already started on her trail of broken hearts.

Alannah sighed. Not angrily, no to Frankie it sounded like resignation. Frankie felt something constrict inside her which later, as she lay awake staring at that ceiling or at least where she imagined the ceiling to be, she recognised as guilt and a deep, deep sorrow. It wasn’t like anything she’d experienced before and the unfamiliarity of it threw her. Tentatively, she reached out and felt for Alannah’s hand but Alannah shifted onto her side, pulling the covers up high around her neck, her back to Frankie. 

‘Good night Frankie,’ she said brusquely. 

In the morning Frankie had to leave early and Alannah didn’t stir, even when Frankie pressed a kiss to her forehead. But Alannah hadn’t said anything about leaving. Not last night and not this morning. That was positive, right, Frankie reasoned. She’d been granted a reprieve but for what? To fuck it all up again? Really she should resent Gail, and Holly too, for showing her up—the yardstick by which Alannah measured their relationship and found it—well Frankie—wanting.

…………………………………………

Upstairs Gail did a face plant on the bed. She was an idiot. Really, she should never open her mouth around anyone but Holly. Gail didn’t move when she heard Holly come out of the bathroom but buried her head further into the pillow. Then the bed dipped a little and next thing Holly was lying on top of her and placing soft little kisses behind her ear and on her neck. They were like a balm, these kisses, soothing the feverish racing in her head and Gail found herself relaxing a little. The way Holly’s body blanketed her own comforted Gail too and she could feel herself coming out of the head spiral as Holly referred to it. The place Gail went when her self-doubt and insecurities got the better of her. In her truly dark moments it was perhaps should be more aptly named the vortex of despair.

‘I heard,’ Holly said in a low voice, ‘I came downstairs and I heard what you said to Frankie and Alannah.’

‘I’m an idiot,’ Gail groaned, crashing her head onto the pillow.

‘Not the word that springs to mind,’ Holly replied a little teasingly.

‘Yeah, what then,’ Gail huffed, her voice muffled by the pillow.

‘Oh, there are so many words. Amazing is definitely one,’ Holly said, then her voice became lower still, ‘but perhaps I could show you.’ She scrapped her teeth against Gail’s earlobe and then dropped her body down so she was flush with Gail, one hand trailing up Gail’s leg to her hip. 

Gail couldn’t help it, arching back to push her ass into Holly. Already she could feel the wetness between her legs. 

‘For the record this is not avoidance sex,’ Holly murmured.

‘Well, it has been over twenty-four hours since we last fucked,’ Gail drawled, ‘and there was talk about a raincheck.’

Holly laughed throatily and moved her hand to the waistband of Gail’s jeans, popping the button and pushing her hand in. She drifted her fingers down the outside of Gail’s boy shorts, feeling for her clit through the material. Gail gave a sharp intake of breath and felt Holly smile against her neck. When Holly touched her, it was like her body had a will of its own. Gail moved so she was resting on her arms, elbows and knees bent. The position gave Holly better access but after a moment she said, ‘you have too many clothes on,’ and started to strip Gail of her top and bra. 

Gail still didn’t turn around, enjoying the fact of Holly taking charge. Once Gail was naked and back on all fours, Holly slipped two fingers inside her, and used her other hand to cup Gail’s breast, squeezing it gently and then tweaking her nipple roughly, the contrast in touch producing the most delicious of sensations. Holly bit down on Gail’s shoulder, sending a vibration through Gail’s body that went all the way to her clit. The bite would leave a mark on her pale skin, Gail knew that, but didn’t care.

‘I’m going to do this very, very slowly,‘ Holly husked. Gail bit her lip and nodded, content to cede control to Holly, in fact extremely turned on by it. Given her level of arousal, Gail had a feeling this would be anything but slow. Not that she would tell Holly that. 

Later, much later, in fact way too late given tomorrow was a work day, Gail smiled down at Holly, dipping her head to kiss her. Holly pulled Gail against her. They were both naked and a little sweaty from their exertions, pleasantly spent and very close to sleep. 

‘That was,’ Holly pronounced breathily, ‘amazing. You are amazing. Sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself to make sure this¬¬¬¬—you—us—is real.’

Gail chuckled. ‘Nerd,’ she said fondly and kissed Holly again, ‘you Holly Stewart allowed my heart to grow.’

Most people had thought that impossible. After all Gail hadn’t got the nickname Ice Queen for nothing. Not Holly. She saw Gail had a heart worth fighting for.  
………………………………………………

Alannah shook her head, looked away from Frankie and sighed. ‘You’ll never change,’ she said quietly. Frankie hated the resignation in her tone, wished Alannah could at least be bitter. It would make what Frankie was about to do a lot easier.

‘Is that why you came over to see Holly tonight, to talk about how once a fuck up always a fuck up.’ She spat it out. Best form of defence is attack. That was Frankie’s motto. She found herself returning to a familiar grove – well worn and predictable – a place where she didn’t have to think about what Alannah was asking of her but knew exactly what she needed to do. Crush expectations. Crush hope. Crush any feelings of attachment or worse love. Oh, she was expert at that.

‘Actually, I came to ask Holly’s advice about how to make it work with you. You see, I thought you and Gail were alike but after tonight, after hearing the way Gail spoke about Holly, I realize I was wrong, you two are nothing alike.’

‘Well, maybe you and Holly should work out a time-share arrangement for Gail. She’s an excellent fuck.’

It was intended to be crude and cruel and it was. Alannah didn’t flinch, but there was a flicker in her eyes that went as quickly as it came, and then it was like Alannah had pulled the shutters down, her eyes giving nothing. What was Frankie doing pushing Alannah away? It was what Frankie always did. Couldn’t let anyone get too close. Couldn’t let them see what was in her heart or actually what wasn’t. Maybe that was the real void.

‘I’m going home,’ Alannah said.

Frankie watched as Alannah pulled on her jeans and then sat on the edge of the bed to pull on her boots. Frankie tried to think of something snarky to say, something that would make Alannah want to run from the room and never look back. Inextricably nothing came to mind—no sharp retort or biting putdown. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. Normally by now she’d be going in for the kill, watching the other person’s anguish with an indifference that sometimes even frightened her. Gail joked about being a sociopath but maybe Frankie really was. 

‘Don’t,’ Frankie spoke as Alannah stood.

‘What?’

‘Don’t go. I want you to stay.’ 

‘Frankie, there is no point. I’ll save you saying it. We want different things and I’m done with dancing around you.’

‘I, I want what you want. I want to be with you for-‘ Frankie blurted out and then stopped. She’d been on the verge of saying forever.

‘For what?’ Alannah looked sceptical. 

‘I want to be with you for as long as you’ll put up with me.’

Alannah’s face softened a fraction.

‘I mean it. Normally I would have cut and run by now. I would have lined up the next person and even the one for after that, maybe even be seeing both of them. But I don’t want to do that with you. In fact the opposite and if you want to know the truth, it kinda scares the shit out of me.’ 

‘Yeah’

‘Yeah,’ Frankie took a deep breath. It was now or never. She was certain of that, certain that if she let this opportunity pass she’d not only lose Alannah but any chance of loving someone. ‘I, I love you.’ Frankie was surprised how easy it was to say those words and, as they tumbled out, she didn’t feel queasy or panicked and the world didn’t come crashing about her. Actually, Alannah was smiling at her and all Frankie felt was relief, like a burden had been lifted, and something else that seemed suspiciously like happiness.

‘You do?’ Alannah asked.

‘Yeah,’ Frankie replied, still a little dazed by the admission.

‘You looked shocked,’ Alannah smiled.

‘It’s just, well I’ve never said that to anyone before,’ Frankie said, which made Alannah’s smile widen even more.  
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

As Frankie pulled out on the road, Gail yawned.

‘Couldn’t sleep,’ Frankie asked sympathetically, clearly thinking Francine was weighing on Gail’s mind.

Gail turned abruptly and looked out the window to hide the blush spreading across her cheeks. At least it meant Frankie and Alannah hadn’t heard them last night. Holly had been particularly vocal, especially that second time, and even though her temporary roommates were one floor down, Gail was convinced it would have woken them.

‘Oh,’ Frankie said knowingly, ‘oh I see. I thought you and the doctor were laying off sex for a while.’

‘Frankie,’ Gail huffed, turning back to face the detective, ‘we are not having this conversation. I’m not talking to you about me and Holly and sex. Anyway it wasn’t like that.’

‘Yeah,’ Frankie sounded unconvinced but Gail knew her friend well enough to recognise she was just jerking her around. ‘It must be something to do with that house.’

‘What do you mean?’ Gail screwed up her face in confusion.

‘It’s conducive to sex. I told Alannah I loved her and let’s just say she, ah, showed her appreciation.’

‘Frankie, number one, stop talking like a frat boy, and number two, I hope you didn’t tell Alannah that just so you could get some.’

‘What! No!’ Frankie protested. Such was her outrage she nearly ploughed into the car in front of them and had to brake so hard she and Gail lurched forward jarringly. The guy in the car behind them leaned on the horn¬—a long, loud blare that didn’t let up so Frankie flipped the siren. Just briefly but enough so the horn stopped abruptly.

‘Asshat,’ Gail said, ‘if I wasn’t in such a good mood I’d book his ass.’

Frankie drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. ‘It’s your fault.’

‘What,’ Gail spluttered, ‘I didn’t make you take your eyes off the road.’

‘No. Not that. What I told Alannah. It was the speech in the kitchen—it made me think. I never had that. I never expected that, then Alannah came along and—‘ Frankie stopped and twisted her mouth.

‘And you didn’t know what to do with all that,’ Gail said like she understood.

‘Yeah. Exactly. It wasn’t in my realm of experience. I mean when you and I had our thing, I thought maybe there was something to it but there wasn’t.’

‘And thank god because imagine how much more bitter and twisted we would have ended up.’

‘Speak for yourself Peck,’ Frankie said.

Gail arched an eyebrow.

‘Okay, yeah, you’re right,’ Frankie conceded, ‘but those things you said last night, it made me think about what Alannah meant. Don’t laugh, but I realized I can’t imagine not having her in my life and I’ve never felt that way about anyone.’

Gail grinned knowingly.

‘What,’ Frankie snarled.

‘I could have told you—it was kinda obvious.’

‘So why didn’t you,’ Frankie asked, sounding annoyed Gail had kept her in the dark.

‘You needed to figure it out for yourself.’

‘When were you appointed the relationship guru,’ Frankie grumbled.

‘Not claiming to be,’ Gail grinned and held up her hands in an appeasing gesture, ‘I’m still figuring it out myself.’ 

So maybe being so open with Frankie and Alannah hadn’t been such a bad thing after all. At least Frankie wasn’t giving her shit about it. If anything, it seemed Frankie was a little defensive. The detective hated not knowing how to act—for all her talk of heedlessly moving from one girlfriend to the next, Frankie was actually attracted to certainty and familiarity, the unknown tended to freak her out. 

Frankie liked to be in control of all aspects of her life—when they’d first slept together, she informed Gail she was a top and Gail had told her ‘fuck that ’ and flipped her over to take a turn in dominance. After that there was a little more give and take, although sometimes Gail did feel like it became a battle of wills. Didn’t stop Frankie coming back for more. They all did when it was just about sex, Gail thought. Guys had always assumed dominance by default but she didn’t let them get away with that either. 

It wasn’t like that with Holly—there was never any need to negotiate sex. Sometimes one was more dominant than the other, but in the main, just like their relationship, it was a meeting of equals. Gail smiled at that. Equals. It had taken her a long time to accept that, to get over her conviction she wasn’t good enough for Holly. God knows she’d gone out of her way to ensure it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. If Lisa hadn’t turned up at the Penny with her snide digs and a face so haughty it may as well as had supercilious stamped on it, then Gail would have found another way to sabotage the relationship. Quite possibly wrecked it completely to guarantee there were no second chances. Nuked it rather than thrown a few incendiary bombs, razed everything to the ground rather than just start a spot fire. 

‘I booked an appointment with that therapist,’ Frankie said abruptly and in such an apparently disinterested way that Gail recognised it signalled this was the beginning and end of the discussion.

They arrived at 15 soon after. As Frankie got out of the car, she said, ‘you know what Peck. I decided if someone like you can make it work with Holly, then I can make it work with Alannah.’

Gail rolled her eyes. ‘Didn’t realize it was a competition,’ she muttered but Frankie was already on the sidewalk and didn’t hear. ‘Someone like me?’ she mouthed and shook her head. Frankie Anderson had some nerve.  
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gail sighed as she parked in front of the house. It had been a long and frustrating day interviewing friends of both Melanie and Mitchell. All of them said the same thing. The two were perfect for each other, deliriously happy. Melanie was about to move in with Mitchell and there was a feeling marriage was on the cards. Melanie hadn’t given up on the idea of children either, one of her friends, a pert little red head called Beth, had said. 

You know Melanie lost a baby when she was with that brute,’ Beth told Gail and Frankie.

‘Lost? You mean miscarried?’ Frankie asked.

‘Technically but only after Keith pushed her down the stairs.’

‘He pushed her down the stairs?’ Gail was suddenly alert.

‘Yep, she was lucky to survive. She broke her ribs and an ankle and ruptured her spleen. She looked like she’d been in a car accident, but it was what made her finally leave Keith. You know what, it wouldn’t surprise me if he murdered her. He was very controlling and he didn’t take her leaving well.’

‘Did Keith threaten Melanie after they separated?’ Gail asked.

‘Didn’t get a chance. Melanie took out a restraining order and moved back home for a while. If Keith had dared come near the house, I don’t like to think what Bernie would have done to him.’

Should they be looking at Keith, Gail had wondered. His alibi checked out, but still maybe it would be worth bringing him in for an interview. 

Before getting out of the car, Gail did a quick scan of the street. With Francine on the loose, it paid to be cautious. Was she destined to live a life shadowed by psychos, Gail wondered? How many actual psychos were there in the world because the Gail to psycho ratio seemed a lot out of whack.

‘Hey, you’re home,’ Gail said as she came in through the front door, happy now she knew Holly was back. 

Holly was standing in the hallway with a stack of mail in her hand. ‘Yeah, just got in ahead of you,’ she leaned in to kiss Gail, ‘are we minus out babysitter tonight?’

‘She’s coming by later. Alannah too.’

Holly raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

‘They’ve made up. Frankie came clean about her feelings.’

‘About time. Did she actually use the ‘l’ word.’

‘Why so coy, if you mean love, then yes,’ Gail teased.

‘Really?’ Holly said, ‘you know I’m glad. Maybe Frankie will stop being such an ass now.’

‘We live in hope,’ Gail quipped and nodded towards the mail, ‘anything interesting?’

‘Bills,’ Holly shrugged.

‘And how was court,’ Gail took a step towards Holly and placed her hands on her hips, ‘did you dazzle them with your sexy nerdiness?’

‘Ha, I dazzled them with science. I’d be surprised if we don’t get a conviction. So to celebrate, how about I make dinner for you tonight?’ 

‘Sounds good,’ Gail kissed Holly and then released her hold on her, watching as Holly walked towards the kitchen. Man, she looked good in her court outfit. The tailored trousers hugged her ass just right and—

‘Stop checking out my ass, Peck,’ Holly called over her shoulder but put an extra swing in her hips just for Gail’s benefit.

‘Wasn’t,’ Gail protested weakly as she followed Holly, ‘anyway, aren’t I supposed to check out your ass. I am your girlfriend.’

Holly laughed as she plonked the mail on the table, holding onto the largest—a wide brown envelope with her name and address written in capitals. The block letters looked angry—big and definite and impossible to ignore in the way all caps in text messages meant you were yelling. Odd, thought Gail, but before she could caution against opening the envelope, Holly had ripped the seal. At least nothing had gone boom, Gail thought wryly, internally rolling her eyes at her paranoia. Francine had them all on edge. But Holly’s face had gone white and she wasn’t saying anything and it took a moment for Gail to catch on that everything wasn’t all right.

‘What,’ she said, moving to Holly’s side. 

Holly held out a photograph. It was one that had been on refrigerator, except it wasn’t quite. It was taken on their last vacation—Gail remembered that day, the lazy start in bed, the late breakfast and the return to bed and then Holly dragging her to the beach and Insisting on a selfie as she did everyday. ‘I want a record of this holiday,’ she’d laughed and Gail had grumbled good-naturedly but gone along with it happily because it was what Holly wanted and that was reason enough. 

You could see the blue of the ocean behind them, shimmering where the sunlight hit it, and Holly had a wide, wide smile and looked relaxed and tanned and carefree and in love. It was one of Gail’s favourite photos of the two of them, except this photo—the one Holly was holding– wasn’t of the two of them. Francine had superimposed her head where Gail’s should be.


	46. Forty-six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters…
> 
> Finally an update. Life has been busy. Apologies for any mistakes—it’s very late here and I’m going away tomorrow so I wanted to post before I left. So there are a few you out there who are not fans of Frankie. Don’t despair, after the first scene, she doesn’t feature much in this chapter. Instead, Chloe and Gail are partnered again. 
> 
> Thanks for the comments, kudos and subscriptions. Please review. I like it and I’m happy to admit it encourages me to keep writing. Hope you enjoy.

…………………

‘You’re staying at my apartment,’ Frankie said.

‘Anderson, I’m not going to let Francine drive me out of my house,’ Gail said, her hands on her hips and her expression set.

‘It’s very thoughtful of you,’ Holly began.

‘Thoughtful,’ Gail exclaimed, ‘you haven’t seen the shit box Anderson lives in. You know that expression—not enough room to swing a cat, well in this case make that a kitten.’

Holly made a face. Blanched almost. It made Gail wonder if Holly’s response had less to do with the mental image Gail had conjured and was more about her dismissal of Frankie’s offer. It was kind of kneejerk, Gail had to admit that. Gail knew she was being a brat—that Holly was on edge and she wasn’t helping. It was just she hated that she and Holly seemed to be losing control over their lives. Anyway what made Frankie think she could tell them where they could sleep the night? It was pushy and annoyingly presumptuous. Growing up and even into adulthood, people had always told Gail what to do, had assumed they knew what was best for her, so much so that her first reaction was always to push back. As she registered this thought, Gail realised it was Francine she resented not Frankie

‘I’m gonna put your rudeness down to stress,’ Frankie said, ‘and not take offence.’

‘What about my place,’ Alannah suggested, ‘it’s bigger and I have a proper guest room.’

‘We’re fine here,’ Gail insisted.

‘Thank you, Alannah’ Holly said, ‘I’d like to stay. Maybe just a couple of nights if that’s okay, until—.’

‘Wait, you would?’ Gail asked.

Holly bit her lip and nodded.

Gail’s face softened. ‘Looks like we’re moving in, Alannah’

‘Careful what you wish for,’ Frankie said sourly, clearly miffed Gail and Holly had passed on her apartment.

‘Your place is small. You have to admit that, hon,’ Alannah said, the endearment slipping out so naturally that Frankie took a moment to realise what Alannah had called her. When she did, her eyes widened just a little and she blushed. Alannah moved into the space next to Frankie and leaned in so their bodies were touching.

Frankie wasn’t used to having a girlfriend who treated her like this. If any of the string of women she’d slept with in the past had tried it on, Frankie would have given them short shift. But if she wanted Alannah to stick around—and clearly she did—she was going to have to suck up some mushiness, Gail thought, feeling a little evil at how much enjoyment she was getting out of Frankie’s discomfort and at her attempt to appear untroubled by Alannah’s show of affection.

There was a tap at the front door. Holly jumped at the sound. Gail looked at her with concern and moved to take her hand. Holly mustered a smile of sorts and it made Gail’s heart break. She hated that Holly was going through this and hated herself more for seeming to be so offhand about their security. 

‘I’ll get it,’ Frankie said.

She came back into the kitchen with Duncan and Officer trailing her.

‘All clear, Detective Peck,’ Duncan said, ‘no sign of Francine Hart outside.’

Officer was regarding Holly and Gail with undisguised curiosity. His gaze moved to their joined hands. Just great, what if the rookie turned out to be a homophobe as well as an ass. Gail stared at him hard but Officer didn’t immediately notice, and when he did, he looked at her so coolly it was disconcerting. He wasn’t the least embarrassed he’d been caught out. She didn’t let her gaze waver and it was Officer who finally looked away. He was just the type who, having made a connection between she and Holly, would assume she was the reason Duncan hadn’t issued Holly a ticket, Gail realized. 

Geez one more person she needed to be on her guard around. It was becoming quite a list, and not from her doing either. What was it about her that attracted psychos and creeps? Did she have a big target on her forehead? And now with Francine so obsessed with Holly, it seemed like Gail had tainted Holly with this curse. Gail shook her head to clear it. She must have done it quite violently because Holly was peering at her with alarm, so she gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. 

……………………………

Alannah’s apartment was bright and spacious. Clearly someone with money—she was a neurosurgeon after all—and taste and fabulous views over downtown Toronto. A set of stairs led from the living area to a second floor and the bedrooms.

‘Wow,’ Gail said, looking out the floor to ceiling window in the guest bedroom to the cityscape beyond. It was quite magical at this time of night when the sky still had that bluish tinge just before it turned black, the lights on the buildings twinkling almost festively, the CN Tower glowing red, reminding Gail of a giant ray gun from a 50s sci-fi movie she’d watched with Steve when she was a kid, and down below the street grids marked out by the streaks of yellow coming from car headlights. ‘Wow, this place is amazing.’

‘Think you hooked up with the wrong doctor,’ Holly murmured.

‘Not for a moment,’ Gail flashed a smile, pulling Holly to her side to kiss her.

‘Here, sets of keys for both of you,’ Alannah said coming into the room, ‘I’ll order some takeout. Thai okay with you guys.’

Gail and Holly nodded, moving slightly apart, although Gail kept hold of Holly’s hand.

‘Thanks for doing this, Alannah,’ Holly said, ‘you don’t know how much I appreciate it.’

‘It’s the least I can do,’ Alannah gave a little shrug, ‘ besides I think I have you two to thank for making Frankie see sense.’

Gail was about to quip that Frankie and sense were diametrically opposed but stopped herself when she caught the look of absolute sincerity on Alannah’s face.

‘Nah, that was all Frankie,’ Gail said instead, ‘she’s stubborn and she might need a push in the right direction every now and again, but Frankie gets there eventually.’

Alannah considered Gail for a moment and then smiled. ‘You’re a good friend to her.’

‘Yeah, don’t tell Anderson that.’

‘You are one big softie,’ Holly said as Alannah went to order food. She looped an arm through Gail’s and kissed her cheek.

‘You are so wrong nerd, I’m bad ass,’ Gail said, hoping Holly didn’t notice the pink tinge in cheeks, which was probably a futile wish because with her pale skin everything showed.

…………………………………………………………….

Frankie appeared just as dinner was delivered. She’d made a detour via the forensic department to meet Rodney. Gail joked about how at this rate they should convert a room in the house into a fingerprinting lab but the other three hadn’t seemed to find that particularly funny. Holly at least managed a rueful half smile but Frankie had looked grim. It wasn’t that Gail didn’t take the threat of Francine seriously, but if Frankie was this spooked it dialled it up a notch.

‘So did Rodney find anything,’ she asked Frankie as Alannah placed the containers of curry and rice and pad thai and spring rolls and fish cakes on the table.

‘No prints on the envelope or photograph ’ Frankie shook her head, helping herself to a serve of red chicken curry.

‘What’s the point of wiping them clean,’ Alannah asked, ‘the photo makes it clear it’s Francine.’

‘That’s the only thing we’ve got on her at the moment,’ Gail said, ‘if we arrested Francine and this went to court, her lawyer could argue she had nothing to do with doctoring the photo or sending it to the house. They might even accuse Holly and me of tyring to frame her.’

‘Should we consider the possibility someone else is involved—that Francine has an accomplice, ‘ Holly asked.

‘But who’d be willing to go along with her?’ Alannah asked.

‘Well crazy does attract crazy,’ Gail said.

‘Explains why Lisa was so interested in Francine,’ Frankie sniggered.

Gail laughed and Alannah tried not to. Holly was the only mature one, regarding the three of them with a look of mild disapproval. Although, Gail could swear Holly had the beginnings of a smirk. Still, no matter what, Holly had this vestige of loyalty to Lisa. It was about a shared history, Gail supposed. But if she had a friend who pulled some of the crap Lisa did then they would be history. To be honest she put up with a lot from Nick and they were still friends. Then again they were no longer the same people who’d inflicted those hurts on one another. When they were undercover in Vancouver, Nick had admitted he hadn’t known how to love her. It was an apology of sorts, an acknowledgement Gail needed to hear, even if she had moved on and his past actions, which she once found so corrosive, no longer had that effect on her.

Holly had arched an eyebrow but her indignation was largely for show and it encouraged Gail to keep teasing. ‘What,’ she asked, with faux innocence, holding up her hands, ‘we’re only saying it like it is, Holly.’

‘So, that makes me crazy too?’ Holly arched an eyebrow, ‘are you forgetting I slept with the woman.’

‘Unfortunately no,’ Gail screwed up her face as if in pain and then, sounding for intents and purposes completely serious, added, ‘it was one night—a lapse in judgement. Horrible yes but understandable considering you were suffering a deprivation at the time.’

‘A deprivation?’ Holly’s eyebrow rose even higher, like she knew what was coming next.

‘Yeah,’ Gail nodded, an impish smile breaking across her face, ‘of my awesomeness.’

‘Oh god, Peck,’ Frankie groaned in disgust and got up from the table, ‘I need more alcohol.’

Holly shook her head in amusement. ‘You are incorrigible, you know that.’

Gail kept grinning.

‘I bet there’s some truth in it,’ Alannah said, ‘that you were missing Gail.’

‘At the risk of swelling Gail’s head even more, yep,’ Holly gave Gail that crooked smile, the one that got her every time, that caused a flutter in her stomach, which was at once warm and tingling and somehow huge and encompassing and which Gail had come to recognise as love.

If she had tried to define it in concrete terms, Gail would have said it was, on the one hand, like the rush you got on a roller coaster as you plunged down the steepest drop, freefalling, weightless, your stomach feeling as if it was round your knees and yet all your nerve ends tingling with excitement, exhilarated by the thrills and spills. On the other, it was sleeping in on a cool morning, warm beneath the covers and your legs entangled, it was that welcome embrace after a hard day, enveloped by the reassuring smell that was uniquely Holly, and it was Holly’s hand on the small of her back, signalling she was there for Gail.  
……………………………………….

‘Dead ends,’ Chloe signed heavily, ‘that’s what this case is.’

‘It’s only been a few days, Princess,’ Gail said with amusement, ‘you know cases can take months.’ 

She and Chloe were waiting in the briefing room. McNally, Duncan and the two new rookies, Schneider and Officer, were joining the team and Frankie wanted to bring them up to speed. Gail was less than thrilled about Officer Officer but resources were stretched and they couldn’t afford to be choosy.

‘Great,’ Chloe said sourly. She was slumped down in her desk chair and looked downright morose. Gail had to look twice just to be sure but yep, a storm cloud seemed to be hovering. 

Okay, this was not like Chloe. She was usually all sunshine and rainbows and chirpy, definitely chirpy. Miss Positivity. When Gail pictured her she got an image of Snow White in the forest, all bright eyed and with a blissful smile, surrounded by chipmunks and raccoons and deer and squirrels and rabbits and birds. But not today. Miss Positivity had been left at home.

‘I don’t really want to know Price, but what’s eating you?’

‘Then don’t ask. Problem solved.’

‘Whoa. Did an alien come and inhabit your body while you were sleeping? Cause I gotta tell you, you are not the Chloe Price I know and—‘ Gail floundered, ‘and know,’ she finished lamely.

‘Everyone can have a bad day Gail,’ Chloe shot back, ‘we’ve had to put up with enough of yours.’

‘Ouch,’ Gail said, not taking the least offence because this was most definitely not Chloe talking, ‘yeah but that’s me. The Ice Queen. I was born bitter and twisted. Fractious and mean is normal transmission.’

‘You know that’s not true,’ Chloe said, softening, her despondency overridden by concern for Gail.

Gail grinned. ‘I knew you were in there somewhere. At least the aliens didn’t suck your soul up into the spaceship.’

‘What,’ Chloe asked, clearly not following.

‘Never mind,’ Gail waved a hand dismissively, ‘what is actually bothering you?’

‘I,’ Chloe stopped and sighed, ‘I thought I was pregnant.’

‘I didn’t know you and Dov were trying.’

‘We weren’t. I just missed a period and then Dov got all excited. He was kinda over the moon. I’m surprised he didn’t tell you guys.’ 

Of course Dov would be completely enthused about fatherhood, even to the point of obsessiveness. Well, either that or freak out. He’d actually make a great dad if he could get his anxieties under control, Gail thought. He definitely had some OCD tendencies that just wouldn’t work with a kid. Take his squeamishness around food and hygiene. I mean if a suspect was going to leave behind a bag of chips at the station, Gail was definitely going to eat them. Make that cheese puffs and it was a done deal.

‘He was already planning how to turn the guest room into a nursery and thinking up baby names,’ Chloe made a face.

‘Okay, I’m sensing you aren’t entirely on board the baby train.’

‘I want children,’ Chloe hesitated, ‘is it selfish that I want to concentrate on my career right now? I’ve only just made detective.’

‘Not at all,’ Gail said, ‘but have you told Dov that?’

Chloe looked down at her hands. ‘No,’ she said a little guiltily, ‘he thinks we’re trying. He’s taking my temperature every morning so we can monitor my cycle and he’s even recording it on a chart.’

That would be right. Dov was such a dork. Seemed like he was channelling his obsessiveness into the actual getting pregnant bit.

‘And every day I have to check my cervical mucus to see when I’m ovulating,’ Chloe continued,

‘Too much information,’ Gail shook her head rapidly, as if trying to unhear what Chloe had just revealed, ‘don’t tell me Dov does that for you too.’ As she said it, Gail screwed up her face in distaste.

‘For the record I check it myself, but I bet you’d let Holly do it.’

Gail’s eyes widened. ‘I don’t think so,’ she shook her head. How to explain that Holly putting her fingers anywhere near Gail’s vagina would not be conducive to monitoring ovulation, that inevitably they would be diverted by activities which were much more fun. Scratch that, she didn’t want to spell any of that out to Chloe.

‘Geez Gail, I didn’t think you’d be so squeamish. It’s just vaginal fluid. You’re a lesbian. I thought you’d be all up in that.’

Gail had just taken a swig of coffee and came very close to doing a spit take. Somehow she managed to swallow hard and keep the liquid down, but the effort to do so made her go comically bug-eyed and her cheeks redden. She couldn’t tell if Chloe’s choice of words was intentional. Chloe could be sly like that. Her face as innocent as a baby’s like she had no clue about the innuendo. Gail was wise to that all right, but by the time she had recovered sufficiently to take a good look at the redheaded detective, Chloe had moved on and back to her own drama. In fact, was too caught up in it to pay Gail and her theatrics much heed

‘I haven’t got the heart to tell him I’m still using contraceptives,’ Chloe said.

‘Wait, how long has this been going on?’

‘Two months,’ Chloe admitted, and then burst out, ‘God, you are so lucky you don’t have to worry about an unplanned pregnancy anymore.’

Gail laughed. ‘I wish Holly could knock me up.’

‘Really,’ Chloe looked surprised.

‘Can you imagine a baby with those big brown eyes and that crooked smile and that nerdy brain and—‘ Gail stopped, suddenly aware Chloe was regarding her with a soppy grin and misty eyes.

‘You are a big ‘ol softie, Peck,’ Chloe said.

‘Am not,’ Gail replied.

‘Yep, you are. A big ‘ol softie.’

‘Nope,’ Gail scowled and crossed her arms.

‘Don’t worry your secret’s safe with me,’ Chloe said, ‘oh and I guess Holly.’

Further discussion was prevented by the appearance of Frankie and Dov, who were closely followed by McNally and Schneider.

‘You have to tell him,’ Gail hissed under her breath as Frankie began speaking. Dov shot them a reproachful look clearly annoyed she was talking during the briefing. Gail poked her tongue out. Dov pursed his lips and turned back to face Frankie. He was such a goody two shoes, Gail thought, and she was—

‘Mature, real mature,’ Chloe whispered the very words that were forming in Gail’s head.

She grinned just as Dov turned around again to glare at both she and Chloe. He huffed so audibly, Frankie stopped for a second. Gail arched her eyebrows at Dov and he turned back around again as Frankie resumed. Clearly Chloe wasn’t the only cranky pants in the Dork kingdom today.

…………………………………………………………

Chloe and Gail had been left at 15 to trawl through the missing person files compiled for Melanie Fisher and Mitchell Cormann. ‘You never know something may have been overlooked,’ Frankie had said, sounding as lame as the job itself. She took off before Gail could object, taking the others with her to interview the couple’s friends and work colleagues and Melanie’s ex-husband.

‘Why is it I get the feeling I’m being punished,’ Chloe grumped, ‘I haven’t done anything to annoy Anderson.’

‘It’s not you, it’s me,’ Gail said.

‘Qui?’

‘C'est évident—je suis formidable.’

‘Le âne.’

‘You’re the one being the jackass,’ Gail said, switching back to English. ‘I’m here because I have a stalker and Anderson is being overprotective. You’re here to babysit. Oops, was that an insensitive word choice.’

‘Funny,’ Chloe made a face.

‘I’m going to get coffee or something.’

‘Not takeout,’ Chloe sat up in her chair with alarm.

‘No need to panic. I’m staying within the confines of the station, which means I’ll be drinking the crap the department provides and which masquerades as coffee. It should be arrested for identity fraud,’ Gail deadpanned but Chloe didn’t react. Gail sighed. It was going to be a long day. Maybe she should go see if Oliver was around. She could bug him for a while. ‘Let me know if you get a lead,’ Gail waved her hand in the direction of Chloe’s computer and gave an evil grin, ‘or better yet crack the case.’

 

Holly had no reason to be at 15. She’d emailed the preliminary autopsy report to Frankie and saved a copy on the share drive. In the time she’d been in San Francisco, the police and forensic departments had embraced the digital revolution and it was rare for Holly to print a hard copy report anymore. Still here she was in the corridor at 15, clutching a blue folder with a report, anxious about Gail and experiencing an unsettling sense of de ja vu.

Even more unsettling was the fact that it was she who had put Gail in danger. Alannah was right. Holly had only slept with Francine because she was missing Gail so much. One desperate night when she wanted something to erase the ache, some kind of comfort and took the sex that was on offer because it seemed easy, a temporary salve, and afterwards was overwhelmed by emptiness and self-loathing. 

Up to that point Holly had expended a great deal of energy denying that all she wanted was another shot with Gail. It had left her incapable of being interested in anyone else and instead made her embark on a string of meaningless one night stands. Was she destined to be alone forever, Holly had wondered as she silently let herself out Francine’s apartment in the cool dread of morning, her head throbbing and mouth dry from too much alcohol, desperate for a shower to wash the whole sordid experience away. More than anything, Holly wanted to pick up the phone and call Gail, but it seemed that ship had sailed. 

They had never managed to be in quite the same place—and Holly didn’t just mean geographically—for the relationship to work. Maybe their timing would always be off in spite of the intensity of their feelings. In hindsight, perhaps that very intensity had been their undoing, in fact would always stymie them because it was too much to sustain. No matter how many chances they got, how many times they tried to make it work, they would crash and burn. It left Holly’s heart heavy, the regret and sadness at having to let Gail go overlaid by bitterness—a sentiment Holly was unused to—that the world would not allow her this love. 

Holly’s fears were unfounded, of course. Serendipity—or was it fate—had sent her to the conference in Chicago as an eleventh-hour replacement for her boss. She didn’t have an opportunity to peruse the program until she was on the plane and there it was in black and white—Gail’s name. It may as well have been a neon sign because it literally seemed to be flashing. She had read the entry over and over, her fingers tracing the words ‘Detective Gail Peck’—Detective!—‘Toronto Police Service’, a coil of excitement in her belly and something that felt very much like hope. 

She’d heard about the cold case from Rodney of course, and how it’s solving had proved something of a fillip for both his and Gail’s career. Rodney was a terrible source of gossip—he never seemed to notice any of the goings on at 15 or indeed the morgue—and even when she pressed him, feeling like a heel because she knew it would make him uncomfortable, he didn’t know much about Gail’s personal life, only that he was fairly sure she was single. It didn’t matter any way because, by that stage, she’d already applied for the job back in Toronto and made the decision to return. 

What Holly hadn’t known as the plane took her to Chicago and to Gail was that that night with Francine those many months ago, the very night she resolved that she somehow needed to try again with Gail, had set in train a course of events which would put Gail in jeopardy. Oh, Holly knew Gail thought she needed to protect her, that Holly was afraid for herself, when in fact her only fear was for Gail. 

It seemed very clear that Francine wanted Gail out of the picture, no pun intended. There was no denying Francine’s behaviour was escalating and what concerned Holly, what had in fact kept her awake a good deal of last night, was that logically her next step would be to harm Gail. So this was why she was here, making her way down the corridor at 15, wanting to lay eyes on Gail just for a moment to reassure herself, even though Frankie had quietly promised Holly she’d keep Gail desk-bound and ‘out of trouble’.

She had almost reached the detective pen when Gail swung out into the corridor. Holly could tell by the set of her shoulders that Gail was bored and irritable, but her eyes lit up as soon as she saw Holly.

‘Would you check my cervical mucus?’ Gail asked with a completely straight face, indeed her expression quite serious. Holly was glad no one else was in the corridor. If it had been a shift change it wouldn’t have been so empty. 

‘What right now?’ Holly furrowed her brow. She was used to some unusual requests from Gail but this might rank as one of the oddest. Surely it wasn’t a proposition? She looked around. Was there an interrogation room free?

‘Hypothetically speaking.’

‘I kind of do on a regular basis.’

‘Not like that, nerd,’ Gail swatted a hand impatiently.

‘Oh, I get it. You mean if you were trying to conceive. Actually honey, it’s probably easier if you do it yourself.’

‘I figured as much,’ Gail nodded as if satisfied.

‘I’m guessing you’ve had a productive morning googling.’

‘If by google you mean Chloe and Dov.’

‘Oh are they—‘

‘No. Long story. Dov thinks they are. Chloe’s not ready right now.’

‘She should tell him.’

‘That’s exactly what I said but she’s wallowing. Anyway what are you doing here?’

‘Oh,’ Holly said casually, ‘I needed some fresh air so I thought I’d deliver the autopsy report.’ She held up the blue folder.

Gail narrowed her eyes but her lips quirked in amusement. ‘Courier sick?’ she arched an eyebrow.

‘You know we don’t use a courier anymore,’ Holly smiled sheepishly, knowing she’d been found out.

‘But I get a personal delivery,’ Gail grinned, ‘I’m guessing you emailed Frankie a copy.’ 

Holly nodded.

‘You’re far hotter than the courier anyway. Wait, did you walk over by yourself?

Holly swallowed and nodded again. She should have guessed Gail would be unhappy about that. ‘Gail, I know you’re worried but I don’t think it’s me Francine wants to harm.

‘We can’t know that for sure. Considering her mental state and the fact that the police are looking for her, Francine must be feeling the pressure. It could make her volatile, unpredictable. She may be just as likely to go after you.’

Holly hesitated. She could see the sense of not taking any unnecessary risks but still wasn’t convinced Francine had any intention of targeting her. But Gail being Gail would put Holly’s safety first, heedless of her own wellbeing. Perhaps she was overthinking but it left Holly uneasy. 

‘Shit, I’m sorry,’ Gail sighed, mistaking Holly’s silence for distress, ‘that came out harsher than I intended.’

‘I just don’t want you taking any chances either. Everything Francine’s done so far suggests you are the target,’ Holly shuddered involuntarily and hated herself for it. She’d come here to support Gail and instead it was she who was falling apart. Gail took a step towards her and pulled her into a hug.

‘We both need to be careful,’ Gail murmured, ‘until we find Francine. So how about I go get Chloe and the three of us grab some lunch and then we’ll escort you back to the morgue.’

Holly found herself nodding once more. ‘Wait, you’re inviting Chloe to lunch?’

‘She’s my bodyguard. Again.’

‘Your bodyguard huh.’

‘Yeah, it’s a perk of the job, nerd.’ Gail had that impish grin once more. She was good at that—lightening the mood when she sensed Holly’s anxieties were turning into a runaway train. ‘Which also means,’ Gail indicated the blue folder which Holly was still clutching, ‘ no make-out sessions in the interrogation room.’ It didn’t stop her from leaning in to kiss Holly, just briefly on the lips but it was something. Who was she kidding, Holly thought, Gail’s kisses were always something.

‘Good news princess, it’s lunchtime’ Gail said as she came back into the detective pen, ‘and you’re buying.’

Chloe looked up distractedly from the computer.

‘Gail,’ Holly said warningly.

‘What?’ Gail held up her hands, all innocence, ‘I’m just being supportive. She’s been moping around all morning—I thought a spot of altruism might make her feel good about herself. You know the giver-glow you told me about.’

Gail had scoffed at the term but Holly had explained that studies showed that helping other people out, in fact just thinking about it performing a good deed, activated the mesolimbic pathway in the brain that was associated with happiness and the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helped control the brain’s reward and pleasure centers. Helper’s high was another term for it, which really made Gail laugh.

Now Holly looked at Gail skeptically.

‘Okay, okay I’m buying,’ Gail said hurriedly.

‘How did you manage that Holly?’ Chloe said in awe, ‘you must have superpowers.’

‘Ha ha,’ Gail said, ‘keep that up Princess Grumpy and I’ll retract my offer.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Anything new in the autopsy report?’ Gail asked over lunch.

‘Nope. It just confirmed our initial assessment. Blow to the head, probably with a blunt instrument but she was hit with enough force to make her skull cave in. Dr Chatterjee believes the body was buried around the time Melanie disappeared.’

‘Well, at least that narrows it down. I suppose it makes sense to trawl through Melanie’s missing person file.’

‘Sounds like you two have had a frustrating morning.’ Holly made a sympathetic face.

Gail started to nod. She was sitting next to Holly in a booth and had inched progressively closer to her girlfriend and was now holding her hand.

‘Actually, I think I might have found something,’ Chloe said with a little of her usual eagerness. ‘Did you know Melanie was trying to establish herself as an investigative reporter?’

‘I thought she worked in a coffee shop,’ Gail said.

‘Yeah, but she studied journalism and worked for a paper for a few years after graduation but was retrenched when they downsized.’

‘Not surprising,’ Holly said, ‘hundreds of jobs are cut from the media industry every year.’

‘Melanie managed to get some work as a freelancer—not enough to live on but she had several articles published.’

‘And what was she working on when she died?’ Gail asked, letting go of Holly’s hand and sitting up keenly.

‘The file didn’t say.’

‘What’d you think Chloe, should we go speak to Melanie’s parents? I’m guessing she had to have had a computer or laptop.’

‘Yep and with any luck the Fishers might have it,’ Chloe said.

‘Hold on, aren’t you two meant to stay at the station? Shouldn’t you check with Frankie first,’ Holly trailed off and then blushed.

Uh huh, Gail thought, so Holly was to blame for her tedious morning. She looked at Holly impassively, deliberating not saying anything, until predictably Holly started to squirm.

‘I didn’t ask Frankie to keep you at 15. I just,’ Holly broke off again.

‘You made her promise to look out for me.’

Holly nodded guiltily.

‘That’s sweet,’ Chloe pronounced from the other side of the table.

‘Well,’ Gail said, a wily look on her face, ‘I’ve got Chloe to protect me so I think I’m safe to go out onto the mean streets.’

‘You’re going to anyway, no matter what I say,’ Holly sighed and Gail grinned.

Later when she said goodbye to Gail outside the morgue, Holly couldn’t help but pull her close, hugging her so tightly Gail began to wonder if Holly would ever let her go, improbable as that thought was. ‘Stay safe, detective,’ Holly murmured before pulling back. As Gail watched Holly disappear through the front entrance, a faint feeling of foreboding settled upon her. 

…………………………………………………………..

‘Melanie was exploited, even as a freelancer,’ Bernie Fisher said. ‘Those articles took weeks to research and write and she was paid a pittance.’

‘So do you know what Melanie was working on when she disappeared?’ Gail prompted, a little surprised by Bernie’s vehemence.

‘Ah, something to do with people trafficking. I don’t think she’d got too far. My wife might know more. She’ll be back from her work trip the day after tomorrow. The detectives from missing persons didn’t seem to think it relevant.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail said, rocking back on her heels slightly. She didn’t want to badmouth her colleagues but if that was true, it was a massive oversight. 

‘Did she have a laptop or computer she used for work?’ Chloe asked.

‘Laptop. It’s missing though. We assumed it disappeared with her.’

‘Any idea who commissioned the article?’ Gail asked

‘Ah,’ Bernie considered for a moment, ‘Melanie had done a few pieces for Focus magazine. It may have been for them. Do you think her death has something to do with the article?’

‘We’re checking all angles,’ Chloe said, just like they always did, words intended both to reassure and stop people from asking too many questions or get their hopes up.

…………………………………………………………..

Do you get the feeling Bernie didn’t approve of his daughter freelancing?’ Chloe asked once she and Gail were back in the car.

‘Yeah, definitely. Weird. You’d think he’d be proud.’

‘Maybe he was just being protective—you know worried her research might lead to trouble.’

‘What if it did?’

………………………………………………….

 

‘Yeah, Melanie was making good progress on that,’ Chet Rankin, the editor of Focus said. He was what Gail’s mother would have called pleasant looking. Not handsome but not unattractive, with a keen intelligence that he clearly applied both to the magazine and the present conversation. He barely looked old enough to be out of college but apparently had been running the magazine for the past five years. Most of the readership was online, he’d explained to Gail and Chloe, but they still distributed some hard copies.

‘Any chance Melanie kept any documents on a share drive here? Like research for this article?’ Chloe asked.

‘No. We don’t usually receive anything from the freelancers until they submit their article. That’s what we save.’

‘Did she discuss what she’d uncovered?’ Gail said.

‘A little. I was a bit preoccupied then. A convenience store chain was suing the magazine after we ran a story exposing how they were underpaying staff. But from what Melanie said, human trafficking is a bigger problem in Canada then most people believe. The Chinese and Russian gangs are the most involved. Easier to move people around these days than drugs or guns.’

‘True,‘ Gail agreed, ‘although, increasingly it is actually teenage girls living here in Canada who are being lured into unpaid sex work. In fact, anti-traffickers are saying it’s now the majority.’

‘Yeah,’ Chet said, clearly interested, ‘how is that?’

‘Vulnerable girls are targeted and groomed. An older guy, who seems suave and worldly, will take an interest in a girl. Shower her with gifts. She believes he’s her boyfriend. Next think he’s trapped her into sex work. Maybe he blackmails her with compromising photos or gets her into drugs, but you’re right it’s a bigger problem than any one cares to admit.’

‘Sounds like a story Focus should be doing.’

‘It sure could do with more exposure,’ Gail nodded, ‘if only to act as a warning to potential victims. Ontario has an anti trafficking commissioner. Kate Lewis. She was a victim of trafficking herself. She’d been worth talking to.’

At Elaine’s instigation, the newly appointed commissioner had briefed 15. Gail was shocked not only to learn that teenage girls living in Canada were targeted but that sixty per cent of all reported human trafficking cases came from the Greater Toronto Area.

Chet nodded. ‘I feel you’re helping me out, rather than the other way round.’

‘You said Melanie linked the trafficking to Russian and Chinese gangs. Did she mention any names?’ Chloe said. 

‘Lee Chou. Melanie felt he was definitely involved or at least members of his gang.’

Lee Chou. The man Elaine had allowed to tighten his hold on Toronto in exchange for Niall O’Leary.  
The vacuum created by O’Leary’s arrest had indeed been filled by Chou. He was king ping now. Having literally snuffed out the remnants of O’Leary’s gang, he’d moved on to dispatch his main competitors. Traci was working a string of particular gruesome murders—gangland executions that Traci suspected Chou had ordered but couldn’t prove it, yet. Had Steve’s safety been worth unleashing this monster, Gail wondered. The answer had to be no, there had to have been a better way but her mother would never admit that. 

……………………………………………….………………..

 

‘What the fuck, Peck,’ Frankie said. She looked angry and her arms were folded across her chest. If Frankie had been a cartoon character, steam would have been coming out of her ears, Gail decided. She wasn’t impressed to find Gail and Chloe missing when she returned to the station. 

‘We were chasing a lead,’ Gail began.

‘What part of stay here and check the files didn’t you understand.’

‘We checked them and got a lead and used our initiative. You never said don’t leave 15.’

‘It was implied,’ Frankie said curtly, ‘and you should’ve informed me before going off on a whim.’

It was Gail’s turn to scowl. 

‘I don’t think it’s a whim,’ Chloe said quietly, ‘and I don’t think we can discount the possibility that Melanie’s investigation is connected to her death.’

‘Okay, try me muppet,’ Frankie said impatiently. She generally only called Chloe that when she was annoyed.

Gail rolled her eyes. ‘Just keep an open mind, Anderson,’ she said, but then let Chloe do the talking.

‘Unlikely,’ Frankie shook her head after hearing Chloe out, ‘why dump her body at the archery club? How would Chou or any of his associates know about Melanie’s connection to the Cormann brothers.’

‘I dunno. She told them,’ Gail shrugged, ‘could be one of those random coincidences.’

‘Again, unlikely,’ Frankie frowned, ‘anyway the ex-husband’s alibi is looking shaky. He admitted to fudging the times as a favor to Keith Unger. I’m liking Keith for the murderer, particularly given his history of violence against Melanie.’

‘I still think we should at least look into the people trafficking angle,’ Gail insisted, ‘and I want to know why missing persons didn’t follow it up. You gotta admit that seems weird.’

‘Probably because it was a dead end,’ Frankie said acerbically and then sighed. ‘Okay go check it out. Talk to Traci first. If Chou or any of the other gangs are involved she might have heard something, but I want to know your movements at all times.’

Chloe nodded and Gail reluctantly followed suit. Frankie was really taking this too far. Gail got that Frankie was looking out for her and she got that Francine was a menace but she was more than capable of looking out for herself, especially with Chloe glued to her side. She wished Holly had someone with her. At least, after Patricia Gimlet managed to get in and steal the severed head, Dr Carral had reinstated a daytime security guard at the morgue. No one was going to get passed the security unless they had a reason and an ID. Frankie had made sure of that, circulating a photo of Francine among the security team.  
....................................................................

‘I haven’t heard anything about Chou being mixed up in anything like that. Some of his gang maybe but Chou has bigger fish to fry,’ Traci said.

Gail and Chloe had caught the detective on her way out to collect Leo from school. Gail could tell by the way Traci kept trying to surreptitiously check the wall clock that she was already late.

‘Human trafficking, especially sex trafficking is big business. We’re talking a multimillion dollar business,’ Gail said.

Traci sighed. ‘You’re right but Chou is about guns and drugs. My feeling is Melanie Fisher got it wrong.’

‘If he traffics guns and drug, why not people?’ Gail pushed.

Traci sighed again and looked at the clock.

‘It’s worth looking into, isn’t it,’ Chloe said. Unlike Gail, she sounded conciliatory.

‘Sure,’ Traci agreed, ‘look I have to get Leo from school and then take him to soccer practice. Can we talk about this in the morning? Your victim’s been dead four years—I don’t think we have to worry about the trail going cold.’

‘Can we come along for the ride?’ Gail asked.

‘Doesn’t Frankie want you two to stay,’ Traci stopped, realising Gail was regarding her skeptically, ‘look it doesn’t matter. Yeah okay, we can talk more at practice.’

……………………………………………………………………………………

Leo reached up to give Gail a hug. Okay that was someone else she didn’t mind hugging her. It was kind of sweet that at eleven Leo still hugged her. It probably wouldn’t last much longer. Adolescence would kick in and Leo would no longer think of her as the cool what? Gail stopped. What was she to Leo? She’d overheard him describing her to one of his friends as his sort of auntie. It was well after Steve was out of the picture. She could have been his actual auntie. Had come close but then Steve turned out to be spineless. She could never quite forgive him for being willing to let Ollie take the rap. Thinking about Oliver made her realise Leo was family like Oliver was family—part of a grab bag of misfits who looked out for each other and whose mutual care and affection ran deep. Gail wouldn’t say it out loud, wouldn’t even admit it to Holly, but she loved all these guys. Not like she loved Holly of course but like family. ‘We make our own families,’ Holly said when Gail despaired of her biological one. And it was true.

‘Am I having a sleepover,’ Leo asked excitedly, bouncing up on the tip of his toes in that way kids did, ‘are you picking me up instead of mom?’

‘Not today buddy,’ Gail smiled, ‘Traci’s waiting in the car with Chloe.’

‘Oh,’ Leo looked crestfallen. He stopped the bouncing thing and kicked at some dirt with his shoe.

‘But we’re coming to soccer practice,’ Gail said, feeling disingenuous because Leo wasn’t the real reason she’d be standing on the sidelines, ‘and how ‘bout we organise a sleepover soon.’

Leo brightened at that and nodded enthusiastically.

 

Once at practice, Leo kept checking to see that Gail was watching. Shooting what he thought were furtive glances and then grinning when he caught her eye. The coach had divided the team in two and they were playing a small-sided game. Leo was out on the wing and repeatedly fed the ball to the striker who missed every chance at goal. Finally, Leo took the ball all the way up and shot, placing the ball in the very corner of the goal so the keeper had no hope of reaching it. Gail whooped like it was the World Cup, like Holly would watching a game. 

‘It’s only practice,’ Traci laughed, and a number of parents looked on in amusement.

Gail coloured. She hadn’t realized how carried away she’d become. It was Holly’s fault, she decided. Somehow hanging around Holly meant she now understood the rules of not just the ‘beautiful game’ as Holly liked to call soccer but quite a few other sports as well.

Chloe grinned at her knowingly or so it seemed to Gail but about what wasn’t clear.

‘What,’ Gail demanded

Chloe didn’t flinch. She should have. Gail’s tone was harsh but Chloe was used to it.

‘Just thinking how adorable you’ll be when you and Holly have babies.’

Gail shot her a death stare that would have shrivelled anyone else but Chloe just giggled.

‘You and Holly are having a baby?’ Traci asked, doing nothing to conceal her interest in the turn the conversation had taken.

‘No,’ Gail screwed up her face, ‘well not right this minute.’

‘Won’t they make adorable parents,’ Chloe gushed.

Before Traci had a chance to respond, Gail spoke. ‘Why are you so sure Chou’s not involved in people trafficking,’ she asked, deciding a swift change in topic was needed, especially if she was to be prevented from doing actual bodily harm to Chloe.

‘It’s never come up. I’ve got an informant who does some work for the gang and sometimes hangs with Chou’s lieutenants and he’s never mentioned trafficking.’

‘Maybe he’s not in the loop,’ Gail suggested.

‘It’s possible but my feeling is the trafficking isn’t that organised. More like individual pimps or groups of pimps who trick these girls into working for them. It’s too small time for Chou.’

‘ A girl who’s trafficked daily for sex can bring in up to $280, 000 a year,’ Gail said, recalling what the trafficking commissioner had told them. ‘So not so small time.’

‘Shit,’ Traci shook her head more in sadness than amazement, ‘I hadn’t realised that. It puts it in a different league.’

‘Any chance Chou’s people could be trafficking girls on the side and Chou’s turning a blind eye?’ Chloe asked.

‘Chou runs a tight ship. He doesn’t like his people freelancing, especially when profits are involved. But I’ll ask around. See what I can dig up.’

Before either Chloe or Gail could reply, Leo ran up to them, signalling practice was over. ‘Gail, did you see my goal?’ he asked, once again doing that excited bouncing on his toes thing.

‘Sure did buddy,’ Gail’s smile was wide and genuine, ‘it was pure poetry. I’m gonna have to bring Holly to see you play this weekend.’ 

Leo couldn’t stop the grin spilling across his face. Traci handed him a water bottle. ‘Time to go?’ she suggested. Leo nodded.

‘Face it Gail, you’re a big ol’ softie,’ Chloe said as they walked back to car. Traci and Leo were a little ahead and too engrossed in their own conversation to hear.

‘Ugh, whatever Price,’ Gail said, for once unable to come up with a snarky response.

………………………………………………………………

‘So how about grilled chicken and a salad,’ Gail said as she straightened up from her examination of Alannah’s refrigerator. Like Holly, the neurosurgeon was health conscious and kept her refrigerator well stocked so it was easy to come up with a dinner plan.

‘Sounds good,’ Holly smiled, ‘are Frankie and Alannah going to be here for dinner?’

‘Nuh. Therapy session,’ Gail said. Frankie had insisted on driving she and Holly back to Alannah’s place and seeing them into the apartment. Gail knew Frankie’s intentions were good but she was getting a little sick of the hovering. Then Frankie left, saying offhandedly that she had things to do and looked directly at Gail, who knew exactly what that thing was, as if daring her to say something.

‘That was fast.’ 

‘Yeah, the therapist had a cancellation.’

‘So we have the place to ourselves,’ Holly arched an eyebrow suggestively, ‘plenty of time for me to check your cervical mucus.’

‘Eeww, Nerd you really need to work on your seduction lines,’ Gail teased.

‘Seemed to have worked with you so far,’ Holly said, moving to loop her arms around Gail’s neck, ‘in fact I’d say I have a one hundred per cent success rate when it comes to you.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail started to say but was interrupted by the door buzzer. ‘Uggh Elaine,’ she said, after checking the video intercom, ‘Superintendent Mom must have heard you saying you wanted to make babies.’

‘Still not how it works, Peck,’ Holly said as Gail buzzed Elaine in.

‘So I had to find out from Fiona Vincent that you were here,’ Elaine said reproachfully.

She had stayed for dinner. Holly was the one who invited her and Gail had tried not to react but of course her mother had caught her mid eye-roll. Gail couldn’t help but think Elaine accepted out of spite.

‘It’s only temporary,’ Gail said airily, helping herself to more dinner.

‘Well, I’m aware of that,’ Elaine sounded testy. ‘And really Gail do you need a second helping? You’re looking like you may have gained a few pounds. I’m guessing Holly, you might not find Gail quite as attractive if she were plump.’

Gail’s eyes bugged. Now her mother was trying to make Holly complicit in her bullying. Gail had learnt from an early age to trade on her looks—that this was how her worth would be measured in relationships. It had made her meaner because it made her believe she didn’t matter as a person, and sometimes she even deliberately tested how bitchy she could be before whatever guy she was dating took a hike. Gail had talked about this with Leslie in therapy and about how it wasn’t really until Holly that she felt valued for being more than the hot chick. 

Holly regarded Gail for a long moment. Her expression was quite serious at first, then she got that particular look of adoration she reserved for Gail—it was sweet and kind of goofy and entirely smitten and it made Gail’s heart skip a beat. Holly turned back to Elaine. ‘Oh my,’ she said, the wicked glint in her eye impossible to miss, ‘imagine how curvaceous Gail would be. Oh that would be something.’

Elaine huffed a little, clearly not quite believing Holly.

‘Don’t get me wrong Elaine,’ Holly continued, ‘Gail is gorgeous as she is but I love a lot more about her than her looks. And for the record, body shaming,’ Holly waved a hand, ‘isn’t a thing for me. Never was. In fact, my parents actively discouraged it.’

In that moment, Gail felt like Holly was her hero, and if possible she felt herself fall more in love.

‘Well, you have nothing to worry about in that department, dear,’ Elaine said, the implication being Gail did, ‘and you keep in good shape. My daughter, however, is very lazy when it comes to physical activity.’ She rummaged in her handbag and pulled out a small black band. ‘Here,’ she said, holding it out to Gail.

‘What’s that?’ Gail asked as if she had been offered something quite repulsive.

‘It’s a Fitbit,’ Elaine explained.

‘Yeah, I can see that mother but why are you giving it to me.’

‘It will track your steps. The heart foundation recommends 10, 000 a day, but you should probably double that,’ Elaine, ‘I thought we could do a mother-daughter challenge.’ She held up her wrist to show her own Fitbit and then dangled the other one in front of Gail, who eyed it skeptically. The fact was ever since Francine had started stalking Holly, Gail and now Frankie had accompanied Holly on her regular runs. If anything, Gail’s clothes were feeling a looser.

‘I could use that,’ Holly said, reaching across to pluck the band from Elaine’s hand. ‘Thanks.’ She smiled sweetly.

Elaine sighed. ‘How long do you plan on staying here? It would be much safer for you to return home.’

‘And dad would be okay with that,’ Gail drawled.

‘Well, I’m sure given the circumstances,’ Elaine began.

‘No dice mom,’ Gail said, getting up to clear the plates, ‘I’d offer you dessert but then I guess we all should be watching our waistlines.’

Elaine pursed her lips and stood. ’You know Fiona Vincent is doing everything she can to track down Dr Hart,’ she said briskly. She hesitated and it appeared as if she might reach out to Gail. Her hand hovered between them for a moment and Elaine looked at it like it was a foreign object before pulling it back. ‘We will find her,’ she said, her voice softer. 

It was as much as she was going to get Gail thought, as much as Elaine could give, and Gail recognised something of her past self in Elaine’s stuttered attempt to show she cared.

It was still early when Elaine left and they’d washed up. Gail figured Frankie and Alannah must have grabbed dinner after the therapy session. Unless they were licking their wounds somewhere. Although Alannah would probably come home to do that, especially now Holly had become something of a confident.

‘Do you want to watch a movie or—‘ Gail left the question hanging.

‘Oh definitely the or,’ Holly said, moving into Gail’s space to kiss her. It was tender at first, unhurried and undemanding, and Gail appreciated the reassurance it held. Then Holly deepened the kiss and Gail pulled her closer, moving her hands to Holly’s ass.

‘Bed,’ Holly said firmly, breaking the kiss.

‘Yeah, I guess it wouldn’t make us very good guests if Alannah and Frankie came home to discover you ravishing me on the kitchen island.’

‘Not to mention it’s an uncomfortable surface, especially for ravishing,’ Holly smirked and took Gail by the hand to lead her upstairs.

Later as they lay side by side, Gail ran her hand across Holly’s stomach. It was smooth and toned with a swell below the belly button stud so slight Gail only knew of it by touch. She smiled at how Holly looked so much darker against her own pale hand. She liked these quiet moments after sex, their bodies relaxed but thrumming deliciously. Right now nothing else mattered. It was just she and Holly in this room so close and the sense of being fused to Holly so strong that if it weren’t for the contrast in their skin colour, Gail wouldn’t be able to say where each of their bodies actually began and ended. It was a sensation she had only really known with Holly—something she most probably would have dismissed as sappy if anyone had described it to her before. 

The sound of the front door shutting with a sort of wheeze and then a sharp clunk, and of Alannah and Frankie’s voices drifting up the stairs, broke the spell. Eventually the real world always intruded.

‘Elaine’s right. You are in good shape,’ Gail said, as she toyed with Holly’s bellybutton stud.

‘I really don’t want to talk about your mother right now,’ Holly smiled lazily.

‘Hmm, you’re just jealous of my donut baby,’ Gail grinned, pushing her stomach down and out as far as she could so it did indeed protrude.

Holly laughed in amusement. ‘You know Gail,’ she said, all at once serious, ‘I did find you breathtakingly beautiful the first time I saw you but it was your snark that drew me in.’

‘My snark,’ Gail repeated in disbelief.

‘Yep,’ Holly nodded and tilted her head to one side in that way Gail found so irresistible, ‘I fell for everything about you. Not just the way you look but your big heart and compassion, your intelligence and your vulnerability and the way you don’t let any one get away with bullshit, your quick wit—‘

‘Don’t you mean bitchiness,’ Gail interjected.

‘No,’ Holly shook her head, ‘I love your sassiness. Nobody has ever made me laugh as much as you do.’

‘So the whole package huh.’

‘Even the donut baby,’ Holly joked, shifting the mood. She leaned down to kiss Gail’s stomach, which was flat again, the strain of pushing it out of shape being too hard to sustain. Then Holly began to tickle Gail’s sides until Gail was giggling and out of breath and begging her to stop. 

‘I love you Gail Peck,’ Holly said after she finally desisted and Gail was breathing normally, ‘you know that.’ She was lying flush against Gail, looking down at her and into those almond shaped eyes so blue they were almost sapphire. It was a face of perfection.

‘I might have figured that out,’ Gail pretended to huff, ‘but you have a strange way of showing it—tickling me half to death.’

‘Yeah,’ Holly said, and smirking she moved to lean over Gail’s stomach again and kiss it. In fact, she kissed a trail down to her bellybutton and further still until Gail became utterly lost in the wondrous things Holly’s tongue could do.

………………..

‘You hear the word people trafficking and you think of someone brought here illegally from overseas —Eastern Europe or Asia—but most of the girls trafficked for sex work are Canadian. Vulnerable teenagers who these guys prey upon and before they know it their trapped in a life of misery,’ Kate Lewis sighed, ‘I should know, I was one of them.’

It was hard to believe. Gail guessed Kate to be about her age. Poised and articulate, she had curly shoulder length hair and a wide, expressive face. She was dressed in a blue velvet jacket and white  
t-shirt, black cigarette pants and grey ankle boots. A chunky sliver necklace and rings completed the ensemble that was funky more than corporate. There was something quite warm about her that drew you in, and yet she still had an earnestness Gail recognised as common to crusaders.

‘Do you mind me asking why you, why any of the girls stay?’ Chloe asked.

‘I had a difficult adolescence. I didn’t get on with my parents—they fought a lot and didn’t seem to have time for me. I hated school. Looking back I think I was depressed. Plus I had all the usual teenage angst about my body, my looks. I had a lot of self-loathing. Then this older guy, Dmitri, came along and showered me with attention. He’d take me places, give me gifts. Made me feel special. I was flattered. I thought he really cared. I thought he loved me. We did drugs. A weeks in, Dmitri asked me to meet a man at a motel for sex. He said he owed him money and the man was going to kill him but if I agreed to sex with him he’d forgive the debt.’

Kate paused. ‘It wasn’t one man that day. It was several. One after the other. Dmitri didn’t even change the sheets. I was too hopped up on drugs to resist. After that, Dmitri threatened if I didn’t keep working for him, he’d tell my parents. Sometimes he even said he’d kill them and my little brother.’

‘You were still living at home.’ Gail asked.

‘Yeah. He’d pick up after school and take me to the motel. I was afraid of him. Afraid he would tell my parents. And the sex work kind of fed my self-loathing. I convinced myself it was all I was good for. And,’ Kate laughed hollowly, ‘I discovered Dmitri had about ten girls working for him, so I wasn’t so special.’

‘Is Dmitri still around,’ Chloe said.

‘Nope, he’s serving twenty years in prison. My testimony put him away.’

‘What made you speak up?’

‘When Dmitri recruited a thirteen year old. She was so young. I couldn’t watch that happening to her. I went to my parents. They’re big time lawyers with connections on the force. Dmitri was arrested.’

‘Lawyers,’ Chloe looked surprised.

‘You’d be amazed how many of us come from good middle-class families and how many girls live at home without their parents twigging that this is going on. If their daughter is withdrawn or emotional they put it down to teenage moodiness.’

‘So do you get a sense guys like Dmitri are connected to gangs?’

‘It’s possible. These guys are into all sorts of shit. I never heard Dmitri mention a gang. Why? Do you think the gangs are running this.’

‘Its possible they have an involvement,’ Gail said.

‘So this woman, the victim, Melanie Fisher, she wasn’t trafficked?’

‘No,’ Chloe said, ‘she was freelance journalist and was working on a story about people trafficking in Toronto.’

‘Well, Toronto is Canada’s people trafficking capital.’

‘Not a great distinction,’ Gail commented.

‘No,’ Kate agreed, ‘so Melanie disappeared four years ago.’

Gail and Chloe nodded.

‘I’ve only been in this job six months and I left that life nearly ten years ago but I’ll ask around. See if any of the girls I’m in contact with know of her.’

 

………………..

‘A problem has gotta be serious if the government appoints a commissioner to deal with it,’ Chloe said once they were back in the car,

‘Yeah and Kate wasn’t lying about Toronto being the people trafficking capital,’ Gail sighed.

‘It’s awful to think of what those girls are forced to do. They should be doing normal teenage things like hanging out with their friends and gossiping about boys—‘

‘Or girls,’ Gail interrupted.

‘Or girls,’ Chloe smiled, ‘and trying to sneak into music festivals with a fake ID.’

‘Wait, you did that?’

Chloe nodded. ‘I was totally busted and Security called my parents and I was so mortified I never did it again.’

Gail laughed. ‘Only you Chloe.’

They lapsed into silence for a few blocks. Gail began drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. ‘Should we pay Missing Persons a visit?’ she said abruptly, ‘find out why they didn’t pursue the trafficking angle.’ 

‘Frankie okay with that?’

‘She didn’t say no.’

Chloe paused, her face pensive. Was she going to refuse, Gail wondered? Sometimes, well mostly Chloe played things by the book, but then she was almost as annoyed as Gail at the way Frankie was sidelining them in this investigation and all because she was overreacting to this whole Francine business. The sooner the woman was found the better. Then Gail and Holly could go home and back to normal life.

‘Yeah, lets do it,’ Chloe said finally. 

Gail would have high fived her if she’d been the type of person to do that type of thing but she wasn’t so she settled for a small smile and quick nod of her head. A moment later Holly called. Gail was driving so put her on speaker.

‘Keeping safe, Detective.’ Holly asked. Gail could hear the smile in her voice. She loved that about Holly. How her feelings spilled over into her words so that even though Gail couldn’t see her, she could picture Holly’s expression. 

‘Always. How’s your day?’

‘Well, if I hadn’t been kept up half the night, I might be a little more focused.’

‘You complaining,’ Gail asked, Holly’s flirty tone making her forget Chloe was right there in the passenger seat.

‘Well, not if you promise to do that thing with your tongue again.’ Holly’s voice was low now and had gone beyond suggestive.

Chloe let out a small snicker, reminding Gail she and Holly were not alone.

‘Holly,’ Gail hissed, ‘not in front of the child.’

‘The child?’ 

‘Um, we’ve got company. Chloe’s in the car. You’re on speaker.’

‘Duh, Gail, I’m aware you and Holly have sex,’ Chloe said, sounding amused more then anything.

Holly chuckled. ‘Hi Chloe,’ she said, unfazed

‘Who said we were actually talking about sex,’ Gail said, ignoring Chloe’s sceptical grin, ‘anyway it wasn’t half the night, Holly.’

‘If you say so Gail. Oh and hey it looks like I’ll be running late for Kurt’s dinner. 27 found a body and I’m about to start the preliminary autopsy. Do you want go ahead and meet me at the restaurant.’

‘Sure,’ Gail agreed.

‘Apparently dad has a surprise for us.’

‘A surprise? I thought it was his birthday. Aren’t we supposed to be giving the presents.’

‘Yeah, but you know my dad.’

‘Any idea what it is?’

‘No and Kurt was very enigmatic so guess we’ll have to wait for dinner for all to be revealed.’  
……………….

‘Melanie Fisher was my first case after I made detective and joined missing persons,‘ Larissa Chang said and then sighed. ‘ You always hope they’ll turn up alive, the ones you never find. That they’ve assumed a new identity and are living it up somewhere or have amnesia or something. Unlikely, l know.’ She gave a hollow laugh.

‘Any reason you didn’t follow the trafficking angle?’ Gail asked.

Larissa looked away and shuffled some papers on her desk. ‘It didn’t seem relevant.’ The way she said it, she didn’t sound convinced. She began fiddling with the very edge of a file, folding the corner over and then back and then over again. Not much of a poker face, Gail thought. Larissa seemed like a good person—too compassionate for this line of work. The case clearance rate was low and often as not locating a missing person meant finding a body.

‘That’s not the real reason,’ Gail said more forcefully than she intended.

Larissa flinched. ‘I,’ she began and then looked across at Chloe as if the detective could help her out or save her from Gail. But Chloe wasn’t cooperating. Like Gail, she regarded Larissa impassively. ‘Look,’ Larissa sighed heavily, ‘I felt we should follow up that angle. It seemed logical but Detective Palmer put a stop to it.’

‘Palmer?’ Gail asked.

‘My then partner. He took early retirement about two years back.’

‘And he actually told you to drop the trafficking angle?’ Chloe said.

‘Yeah,’ Larissa chewed her lip, ‘he was adamant.’

‘Did he give a reason,’ Gail asked.

‘No, but I was new and you know,’ Larissa trailed off, ‘I always regretted not standing up to him.’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

‘The lead went nowhere,’ Palmer shrugged, ‘that’s why we dropped it. End of story.’

He was a big man. Meaty hands and thick thighs, the belt of his trousers sitting below a belly that protruded like a barrel. Too much of the good life, Gail thought as she looked around. The house was large, opulent even, and far too grand for someone on a detective’s salary. She made a mental note to ask Dov to look into Palmer’s finances.

‘Detective Chang got the impression you weren’t too keen on pursuing it.’

‘That girl knows nothing. She was wet behind the ears,’ Palmer said derisively, ‘only made detective because of affirmative action.’

‘Are you referring to her ethnicity or gender,’ Gail asked coolly.

‘Probably both,’ Palmer leered at she and Chloe, ‘gotta say I always felt much safer when I was partnered with a guy. That’s backup you can rely on.’

He was deliberately goading them. That much was obvious, and neither Gail or Chloe showed any reaction. They didn’t want to give Palmer the satisfaction.

‘You’ve got a nice home here, Mr Palmer, ‘Chloe said conversationally, ‘wouldn’t you agree Gail.’

‘Oh yes. It’s very well appointed. Some would even say lavish.’

‘And?’ Palmer practically sneered.

‘And you wouldn’t have taken any kickbacks to pay for it,’ Chloe said, the accusation the words contained belied by her sweet tone.

‘Nice try but I’m not biting.’

‘You took early retirement. Any particular reason?’ Gail asked.

‘Last I looked it wasn’t a crime.’ Palmer looked Gail up and down appraisingly. ‘You’re Steve Peck’s little sister aren’t you.’

Gail didn’t respond.

‘I’ve heard about you,’ Palmer continued, ‘hell, everyone on the force has. How you were taken by that serial rapist, Perick.’

‘Yeah, what’s your point, Palmer?’ Gail knew she shouldn’t have reacted but she couldn’t help herself. She felt uncomfortably hot and her skin prickled.

‘Must have been horrific, what he did to you.’ It wasn’t said with any empathy rather Palmer seemed excited. ‘I’m surprised you’d want to go back on the force after that.’

‘Well, here I am,’ Gail said, ‘and if Perick taught me one thing, it was how to recognise guys who are  
full of shit.’

‘Like your brother,’ Palmer smiled but there was no mirth in his expression, ‘how is Stevie boy.’

Again Gail said nothing.

‘A friendly word of advice. I know where Steve buried the bodies so think twice before you go after me. I’ve got information that would put Stevie boy back in prison for a very long time. In fact, they’d throw away the key.’

Outside Gail shook her head as if to clear it. ‘Do you think it’s true, what he said about Steve and the bodies?’ Her voice was small and she hated how vulnerable Palmer had made her feel.

‘It sounded like a crock to me,’ Chloe reassured her, ‘if anyone has buried bodies it’s Palmer, metaphorically speaking. I think we need to do some more digging.’

‘Yep.’

‘Enough for today. Haven’t you got a dinner to get to?’

Gail nodded.

…………………………………………………..

Gail threw back the tequila shot, enjoying the smooth burn of the liquor down the back of her throat. It was the expensive stuff. Top shelf as Lisa would say with a snooty accent she thought amusing and as though she didn’t without fail drink good liquor. Still, Gail really shouldn’t be slugging back tequila as fine as this. Truth was the encounter with Palmer had left a bad taste in her mouth and she’d needed a shot to put her in the mood for Kurt’s celebrations. Holly was still tied up at the morgue with a case from 27 and Gail had gone ahead to the restaurant without her. Which had meant Frankie insisted on driving her there and was on standby to collect Holly when she was done with the autopsy. Really, it was getting ridiculous, Gail thought, as she contemplated ordering another shot. 

‘Hard day,’ said a man on Gail’s left. She had registered him coming up to the bar when she was slugging back her shot but only peripherally. Now she turned to look at him properly, her face at its supercilious best, one eyebrow arched sceptically. He was a little older than Gail, with dark brown hair and those big brown eyes she knew so well and that familiar lopsided smile. If she hadn’t seen the baby photos, she’d still recognise him as Holly’s brother. 

Zach had been working in England for the past two years. He and Holly were close as children—still were as adults but distance and different time zones and high-powered jobs made them careless about regular contact. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ Holly had told Gail, ‘when we reconnect it’s like I saw Zach yesterday. We just fall back into that familiarity.’ 

Zach had stayed with Holly after she moved to San Francisco and not long after she’d visited him in London. Gail realized she’d never seen photos from either time or in fact any recent ones of Zach. Unlike Gail, Holly wasn’t a happy snapper. She’d only really started taking photos after she and Gail got back together and most often they were of the two of them. Gail liked to think that until she came along, Holly hadn’t had such a reason to record her life. Holly wasn’t big on social media either. Mainly she didn’t have the time. ‘You or Snapchat,’ she’d joked to Gail once and Gail had quickly agreed it was a no-brainer

So Zach was the surprise Kurt referred to. Gail realised he was waiting for a response to his—was it a question? An observation. Did she want to tell him that yes it had been a shitty shitty day. That the confrontation with Palmer had reminded Gail she could never escape the taint of Peck corruption or the association with Perick. Should she tell him about Melanie and how they seemed no closer to finding her killer and how every case, every death she had to investigate, chipped away at her faith in humanity. How some days it was hard to maintain her equilibrium in the face of all that, and on those days, days like today, she sometimes felt like she only got through because Holly was there like a touchstone, a promise that life could be good and true. Should she tell him how she seemed to have a knack for attracting people who wanted to do her harm and that right now she and Holly had been forced out of their home because of Francine? Yet Gail knew she could burden him with none of these things, not least her own problems which seemed meaningless when she thought about those teenage girls tricked into a life that was monstrous. 

‘What makes you think I’ve had a bad day?’ Gail settled for sass in the end, her tone haughty enough to give Zach pause. He clearly had no idea who she was and she decided to have fun with that. It was perverse, she knew, but it had been a shitty, shitty day and she couldn’t make nice, not just yet, the tequila having done little to shift the mood that settled post Palmer. 

‘Dead giveaway. Drinking alone,’ Zach said, undeterred by Gail, his smile easy, sure. Was it a Stewart thing not to be bothered by her snark?

‘Got a problem with that,’ Gail challenged. 

‘Just seems a waste—someone as beautiful as you drinking by yourself.’

He thought he was smooth and there was an ease and a confidence about him that suggested he wasn’t used to knock backs. It was a self-belief most people would find attractive and an assurance Holly didn’t share, not when it came to seducing people. Sometimes Gail thought if she hadn’t kissed Holly in the interrogation room they never would have got together. Although to be fair, Holly was holding back on account of Gail’s supposed straightness. Still, even if Holly was more circumspect when it came to hitting on people (not that she had any reason to do that anymore), her lines were way better than her brother’s. 

‘Seriously, that’s the best you’ve got,’ Gail twisted her mouth disdainfully.

Zach regarded her with a look that was all too familiar. An amused sort of disbelief at her bluntness, and a tinge of admiration but there was a tinge of admiration that she could be so forthright and not care what anyone thought. He was Holly’s brother alright.

‘You need to try a little harder,’ Gail knew she sounded flirtatious.

‘A little harder,’ Zach looked puzzled, though Gail got the sense he believed she was warming to him, that he was cracking that brittle exterior.

‘Yep,’ Gail nodded.

‘With my lines?’ 

‘Nuhuh,’ Gail shook her head and signalled the bartender for two more shots.

‘Buying me a drink. Very liberated.’

‘Really? Exactly which century do you think we live in.’

Zach smirked in that way Holly did. It felt so familiar and yet so different. Gail wondered if she would have been drawn to Zach when she believed she was straight, but the whole falling for boys seemed like an eon ago and she couldn’t conjure what had attracted her to men in the first place so she let that thought go.

‘So, tell me. How can I do better?’

‘Why?’ Gail tipped back the shot that had been placed in front of her, and Zach did the same, immediately signalling the bartender for refills. Gail hadn’t planned on being drunk for Kurt’s dinner but if Zach kept this up, she’d be well on her way.

‘So you’ll give me a chance.’ The smile was lopsided and there was the head tilt. It wasn’t quite as attractive on Zach, though Gail was sure it melted hearts.

Gail laughed.

‘What’s so amusing?’

‘I hate to break it to you buddy but no matter what you do or say you don’t stand a chance.’

‘Really.’ It was Zach’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

‘You don’t happen to have a sister,’ Gail fixed him with a wide, cheeky smile. She couldn’t help it. This was way too much fun.

‘What?’ Zach was perplexed at the seemingly abrupt change in conversation, ‘why do you want to know about my sister? Oh, Oh,’ he trailed off as Gail’s meaning dawned on him. ‘You like women.’ It was said without judgement, which pleased Gail.

‘One in particular,’ she smiled again.

‘Someone special,’ Zach offered. He’d signalled the bartender for another drink and as he spoke two more shots appeared in front them.

Gail smiled and nodded.

‘Here’s to your girlfriend? Wife?’ Zach picked up the shot glass and Gail did likewise.

‘Girlfriend,’ Gail confirmed and they tipped back their shots in unison. She pictured Holly smilimg and not for the first time thanked whatever forces had brought Holly into her life.

‘Are you happy,’ Zach asked after a moment, his question bringing Gail back to the present, ‘you and your girlfriend. If you don’t mind me asking.’

‘Extremely,’ Gail said without hesitation.

‘You’re lucky.’ It was said wistfully. 

Gail realized she’d never asked Holly why Zach had never settled down with somebody or if he’d even had a long-term relationship.

‘Kind of a shame you’ve got someone. I think you’d be just my sister’s type.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail couldn’t help smirking.

‘I mean she has someone too so there is that.’

‘Kinda stumbling block,’ Gail agreed, ‘What’s she like—your sister’s girlfriend.’

‘I haven’t met her yet. My parents adore her and they have high standards for their kids when it comes to relationships,’ Zach said, ‘but she and my sister will be here soon. Hey, maybe you even know them.’

‘Like I know every lesbian in Toronto.’

‘I didn’t mean that,’ Zach started to say as Gail caught sight of Lisa making her way across the room towards them. That’s right. Kurt had invited her as well.

‘Lisa’ Gail said as the surgeon came up to the bar.

‘Well you know Lisa,’ Zach said as if that proved his point.

‘Lisa is not every lesbian,’ Gail said archly which made Zach laugh. Gail was beginning to like him.

‘Are you two drunk,’ Lisa scowled, ‘Kurt hasn’t even arrived, and where is Holly? Is she going to happy that you’re knocking back tequila, Gail.’ Lisa indicated two full shot glasses that had somehow materialised on the bar. Zach must have ordered them.

‘Holly doesn’t keep me on a leash,’ Gail said and downed the shot just to piss off Lisa.

‘Wait,’ Zach had paled visibly, ‘you’re Gail. As in Holly’s Gail.’

‘Of course she is,’ Lisa snapped, ‘what have you been playing at, Gail.’

‘We only just got talking,’ Gail said a little lamely, ‘we hadn’t got to the formalities, like you know names.’

………………………………

‘Can we make a detour via the house? Mine and Gail’s,’ Holly asked Frankie as they left the morgue. ‘I just need a quick shower and I need to get a change of clothes.’

‘Yeah,’ Frankie agreed as she nosed the car out into the traffic, ‘I’ve got some calls to make anyway.’

‘Are you sure you don’t mind waiting.’

Frankie shook her head ‘nah, no problem. If I don’t, Gail will say you smell like dead people.’

Holly laughed.

It was weird going back to the house they’d left in such a hurry two days ago. Things were in exactly the same place—the letters Holly had dropped on the table, a loaf of bread on the countertop, some pots in the dish drainer from dinner three nights ago, and a messy shopping list stuck to the refrigerator. As she came through the front door, Holly stooped to pick up the mail strewn across the hall, which the mailman had pushed through the mail flap in the door. Frankie hastily took the bundle from her, checking each one before handing them back to Holly. They were mostly bills; a request for a donation to a wildlife sanctuary and a postcard from a former colleague Holly had become friends with in San Francisco and who was now travelling the world. Nothing from Francine, thankfully.

It was on the way out that an odd thing happened. Gemma Lister, the doctor who had worked with Francine, was standing by the gate out front. Actually, lurking might be a better word for it, Holly decided.

‘Dr Lister,’ Holly said stiffly, ‘what are you doing here?’

‘Oh Dr Stewart,’ Gemma feigned surprise or so it seemed to Holly, ‘Do you live here?’

Holly didn’t reply but Frankie asked bluntly, ‘who are you?’

‘Gemma Lister. Um, I looked after Holly after the accident. I’m a resident,’ Gemma explained.

‘What do you want?’ Frankie said coolly.

‘Um nothing. I’m just visiting a friend who lives,’ Gemma paused. She seemed nervous. ‘Down the street. I better be going,’ she stuttered, ‘I’m running late.’ With that she strode off.

‘Does she know Francine?’ Frankie asked once she and Holly were back in the car.

‘They worked together at the hospital,’ Holly paused, ‘she’s the one who told Gail that Francine was putting it about that I was her girlfriend. Gail got the impression Gemma didn’t much like Francine.’

‘Uh huh,’ Frankie said non-committedly. 

‘Frankie, should I be worried?’

‘Just being cautious,’ Frankie reassured, ‘everyone’s a suspect right now. I might run a check on her, to be sure.’

‘You know you’re a good friend, Frankie.’

‘No don’t you start getting all sentimental. I’m only just handling all this expressing your feelings shit with Alannah.’

‘You don’t really think it’s shit,’ Holly smiled.

‘Nah. I guess not but don’t tell anyone I said that.’  
……………………

 

‘Wait you knew it was me all along,’ Zach asked.

‘Pretty much,’ Gail grinned.

They were sitting at the table Kurt had reserved and were drinking French champagne ordered by Lisa. There was still no sign of Holly or her parents. Gail was beginning to feel quite drunk and knew if she didn’t eat something soon she’d be in trouble.

‘Peck that’s no way to treat the father of your future children,’ Lisa swatted her on the forearm. Gail looked at her arm and then at Lisa, her expression incredulous but Lisa ignored her.

‘Father,’ Zach swallowed, ‘children.’

‘Holly and Gail want babies,’ Lisa said like it all made perfect sense. Gail realized then that Lisa had been knocking back the champagne with such gusto she had almost caught up with her companions. ‘Zach, what it means is that Gail needs your sperm.’

Zach, who had just taken a mouthful of champagne, began coughing as the liquid went down the wrong way. Gail started thumping him on the back.

‘Geez Lisa I hope you know the Heimlich manoeuvre,’ she said, ‘it will be your fault if Zach chokes before Holly or her parents have a chance to see him.’

Lisa scowled. ‘He’ll be fine.’

Finally Zach stopped spluttering but his eyes were watering and he was red in the face.

This was how Holly found them.

‘Did I miss something,’ she smirked as she came up to the table. Gail grinned happily and Zach jumped up to hug Holly.

‘The surprise,’ Gail flapped her hand at Zach, ‘he hit on me. When he didn’t know who I was.’

‘Not the first time that’s happened with one of my girlfriends,’ Holly said, taking the seat next to Gail and leaning in to kiss her.

‘Do we have to go into that,’ Zach groaned.

‘Oh most definitely,’ Gail said gleefully, ‘Wait, how many girlfriends do you actually have, Holly?’ she scrunched up her face, ‘I thought I was the only one.’

‘Girlfriends past tense,’ Holly smirked again, ‘and how much have you guys had to drink.’

‘Just a little.’ Even Gail could hear that her words were beginning to slur.

Holly raised her eyebrow.

‘Where are your parents anyway?’ Gail deflected.

‘They should be here any minute. Kurt messaged me on the way here. The neighbors invited them over for a drink to toast his birthday and one thing led to another. I’m thinking I may be the only sober one here tonight.’

‘We can fix that,’ Gail offered helpfully, pushing her nearly full champagne glass in front of Holly. ‘Oops,’ she said as little waves of liquid spilled over the side.

‘That’s top shelf stuff you’re splashing around,’ Lisa complained.

Gail rolled her eyes. Holly laughed and found herself being drawn into a kiss by Gail. She expected it to be sloppy but it wasn’t. Gail was such an expert kisser that even drunk she could make Holly swoon with just this light press of her lips, lingering for a moment as if she needed to re-familiarise herself with Holly before exerting a little more pressure, her teeth scrapping faintly against Holly’s bottom lip.

‘Geez get a room,’ Lisa squawked, ’you better get used to this Zach.’

Gail started to pull back but Holly kept kissing her. They may as well give Lisa something to really complain about. When the kiss was over, Gail stood up abruptly. ‘I need to pee,’ she said and then giggled at her crassness. 

The filter was gone, Holly thought, noting Gail swayed a little as she pushed back her chair. ‘You okay honey,’ Holly took Gail’s hand.

‘I think your brother got me drunk,’ Gail leaned over and said in a stage whisper before lurching off in the direction of the bathroom.

‘Wow,’ Zach smiled, ‘you were never into PDA before, Holly.

‘It’s excessive,’ Lisa said disapprovingly.

‘It’s sweet,’ Zach replied, ‘Holly, you really care about this girl don’t you.’

Holly nodded, smiling that lopsided smile and feeling blessed in the way she always did, even on the hardest days or maybe especially so, when she reconnected with Gail.

………………………………………………………………

Gail came out of the toilet stall and looked in the mirror. She really needed to sober up. Her legs felt wobbly and her head muddled. She’d never been drunk in front of Holly’s parents and tonight was probably not a good time for that particular first. Once upon a time, she used to be able to hold her liquor but she didn’t drink much anymore. 

Gail bent over the basin and splashed cold water over her face. It was then that she felt it. A presence behind her. Whoever it was must have slipped in quietly because Gail hadn’t heard the swing door open or footsteps on the tiled floor. Just for a moment, she hoped it was Holly, even though she knew it wasn’t. When Gail looked up and into the mirror, she saw Francine reflected back at her, standing right behind her and grinning hideously. Before Gail could react, Francine raised both her hands and brought them down on Gail's head, smashing her face into the basin with such force Gail swore she heard bones breaking. The pain was excruciating, and combined with the effects of the alcohol, rendered her incapable of fighting back. Gail’s final thought, just before she blacked out, was that if Francine was going to kill her, she hoped it would be quick.


	47. Forty-seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters…
> 
> I’m so sorry it took so long to update this. I tried and tried to get it done sooner but life has this annoying habit of interrupting. It is a long chapter (possibly the longest I’ve written) so that might make up for it.
> 
> Thanks for the comments, kudos, subscriptions and bookmarks. 
> 
> If you are confused by the opening scenes, there are lots of references to events from the previous chapter. 
> 
> Apologies for mistakes. Hope you enjoy.

………………..

‘I need you to remove this,’ Gail said, holding out her wrist to show Holly the Fitbit. Somehow her mother had managed to have it surgically implanted. If Gail didn’t do enough steps every hour it sent a shock through her body that went all the way to her head. Right now it felt like someone was hammering her skull. She must be really behind on those steps.

‘Honey, I’m not qualified,’ Holly said. ‘If I take that out I could kill you.’

‘But if it stays on, it’s going to kill me, no question. It’s worth a try,’ Gail wheedled, her eyes wide like a puppy’s

Holly shook her head. ‘Maybe Lisa,’ she trailed off doubtfully.

‘Do you think she would,’ Gail tried not to sound too eager.

‘Possibly. I’m seeing her for lunch. Why don’t I ask her then?’

Gail nodded. When Holly left, she opened the refrigerator and considered her options. The problem was if she went over her calorie limit, the Fitbit sent another charge through her body and her head already felt like a battering ram. She spied some leftover pizza and her mouth began to water but then almost instantly her head was pounding again. Jeez, it seemed like even thinking about the ‘wrong’ food was forbidden. What if she thought about vegetables? Gail tried to visualize a plate piled high with juicy raw carrot sticks and of herself attacking the plate with the kind of gusto she reserved for cheese puffs, but even she wasnt convinced and the image did nothing to stop the headache.

When she shut the refrigerator door and straightened up, Dov and Chloe were there, practically breathing down her neck. Gail jumped. ‘Fuck, where did you two materialise from? Have you perfected teleporting or something?’

Dov smirked which made Gail curl her lip in annoyance. 

‘Gail, don’t swear in front of the child,’ Chloe chided.

Only then did Gail notice that Chloe was holding a baby, it’s eyes wide and bright, almost febrile. It regarded Gail unblinkingly. Like it knew something Gail did not. Its head was over big and its skin smooth and it reminded Gail of an alien baby, although there was an earnestness about it that could only come from Dov. She guessed Chloe must have taken the pause off the baby thing.

‘Can you get this off,’ she held out her wrist.

‘Why?’ Dov asked.

‘Because it clashes with my ascetic,’ Gail deadpanned.

‘Sure Gail,’ Dov said sarcastically.

‘Okay, Okay I wanna eat pizza. Happy now?’

‘Well, ah,’ Dov hedged. ‘The thing is—‘

‘We can help, can’t we Dov,’ Chloe butted in, smiling brightly. ‘I know Dov, you could reprogram the Fitbit so Gail could eat pizza.’

‘But what about the Superintendent? We could lose our jobs.’

‘As if,’ Gail started to roll her eyes but the action caused a pain that was searing she thought she might throw up. 

Was the Fitbit monitoring her thoughts as well? Was negativity prohibited too? Weirdly, over the top of the shooting pain came the sensation that someone was examining her face, pressing their fingers against her cheekbones and down to her jaw. Their touch was light, so gentle it was almost a caress, but still it hurt. Involuntarily, Gail lashed out, trying to push the hands away. 

Detective Palmer—actually make that ex-Detective Palmer—appeared then, grabbing Gail by both wrists, ‘don’t move, if you know what’s good for you,’ he hissed. 

Who let him into the house, Gail wondered. Before she had time to call out to Dov and Chloe or anyone else for that matter, Gail found she was lying on the kitchen floor, pinioned by the detective, the wooden floorboards hard against her head. How had that happened? She tied to stand but the more she struggled, the more Palmer tightened his grip. He was leering again. It reminded Gail of Perick and she shuddered. ‘Tell me a secret,’ Palmer cajoled, the whisper in his voice laced with menace. ‘All Peck’s have secrets. Just ask Stevie boy. What’s your secret, Gail?’ 

She opened her mouth to retort but her head was so foggy she couldn’t think of what to say. Perhaps she’d been drugged again but then that didn’t explain the pounding in her skull. Then Palmer wasn’t there. He just seemed to dissolve. Poof. Gone. Well, that was a relief.

Gradually Gail became aware of a murmured conversation coming from somewhere near her feet. She looked down the length of her body but couldn’t see anything because her belly was too swollen. Man, maybe Elaine was right. She really needed to lay off those donuts. Lisa came into view, pulling on a pair of latex gloves and peering down at Gail. ‘Twins, I believe. Let’s get these babies born.’ She thwacked the band of the glove against her wrist. An old fashioned circular surgeon’s mirror was strapped to her forehead and she wore an oversized green gown. Fuck, Lisa was a plastic surgeon not an obstetrician. What did she know about delivering babies? Was Holly really okay with this? I mean they were her babies too. With any luck they’d come out with those big brown eyes and nerd glasses. Gail struggled to sit up.

‘Gail, honey, stay still if you can.’ It was Holly’s voice and it appeared to be far away. 

Gail opened her eyes. When had she closed them? Miraculously Holly was right there, her face bowed over Gail’s. Her mouth was tight and she looked worried. Maybe she didn’t think Lisa was up to the task. Gail certainly didn’t. There was something sadistic in the way the plastic surgeon had snapped those gloves, Gail decided. 

At least now her head was cushioned in Holly’s lap. Maybe she should just close her eyes again and have a little nap. It was so comfortable here and Holly would keep her safe. Then when she woke up all this confusion was sure to be over or else she’d be the proud mother of donut babies. Actually come to think of it, when had that happened?

‘No, stay awake, stay with us,’ Holly sounded panicked. Well, that was weird. 

‘Gail, look at me.’

Was that Lisa speaking? It was Lisa’s doctor’s voice. Firm and authoritative. Shit, she wasn’t getting a boob job, was she? Surely Holly wouldn’t let that happen. Gail’s eyes flew open.

‘You blacked out. You need to stay awake now. Fight the urge to sleep,’ Lisa said.

Gail tasted the blood in her mouth then, and noticed how cold the floor was against her back. She registered that she was lying against the cool black and white tiles of the restaurant bathroom, their diamond pattern repeating endlessly like an optical illusion. It made her head spin. Her stomach heaved a little but she managed to fight the nausea. The lights in the bathroom were overly bright and she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep and she couldn’t understand why Lisa and Holly wouldn’t let her.

‘Nothing appears to be broken but Frankie’s called an ambulance. It will be here soon.’

Gail tried to nod but it hurt too much. Why was Lisa calling an ambulance? It was just nausea. She wondered if she should sit up. It was pretty undignified lying on a bathroom floor. I mean she’d sunk to some depths before but this was sort of tacky. She wouldn’t want Holly’s parents to see her like this. Although the floor was actually quite clean for a bathroom. 

Thinking about Becca and Kurt made Gail recall where she was. Kurt’s birthday dinner. She must have drunk more than she realised and passed out. This was bad. That had never happened before. Gail usually knew her limit. She reached up a hand to the side of her face and was surprised to find it wet, and when she brought her fingers away they were smeared with blood. Had she fallen and hit her head?

‘We just need you to lie there til the paramedics get here. Is that okay?’ Lisa asked solicitously. 

Why was Lisa being nice? That in itself was the most baffling part of whatever it was that was going on. Gail went to nod again but remembered that made her head hurt more. ‘Yeah,’ she said. It came out as a croak, which surprised her. ‘I’m not having a boob job, am I?’

Lisa furrowed her brow, which didn’t exactly fill Gail with confidence. ‘Can you tell me your name?’ the surgeon asked.

‘My real one or what you like to call me.’

‘Real,’ Lisa said, not rising to the bait.

‘You know my name, Lisa. Why do I need to say it?’ She sounded whiny even to her ears.

‘Honey,’ Holly said, her voice so gentle it seemed to be floating and Gail had this urge to follow that voice wherever it would take her. ‘Can you answer Lisa’s questions, can you do that for me.’

‘Gail Stewart,’ Gail said emphatically.

‘What,’ Lisa spluttered.

‘You asked me my name. I told you,’ Gail said impatiently. ‘Gail Stewart.’

‘Ookay then,’ Lisa said, exchanging a look with Holly.

‘I saw that, Lisa,’ Gail said. ‘Don’t think you can fool me and don’t try to drag Holly into this, this,’ Gail floundered. ‘Whatever this is,’ she finished lamely.

‘Wouldn’t dream of it,’ Lisa’s lips twitched and Gail could have sworn she was trying not to smirk. It wasn’t Lisa’s usual derisive lip curl. In fact, strangely she seemed amused. ‘Date of birth?’ Lisa asked.

‘What are you planning on buying me a birthday present?’ Gail snarked but answered anyway. ‘First of November 1986.’

Lisa looked over at Holly who gave a quick nod in confirmation.

‘What day is it?’

‘Really, now I’m your personal calendar. You’re a doctor. You figure it out.’

‘Gail,’ Holly said, her voice still gentle but there was an entreaty there that Gail couldn’t ignore.

’Alright, alright,’ she huffed, ‘Thursday 25th May 2017. Happy now.’

The swing door of the bathroom opened with a swish that Gail didn’t recall hearing when Francine came in. That’s right Francine. The reason Gail was lying on the floor or had she actually imagined that, imagined Francine appearing like a grinning idiot, malice emanating off her like an unpleasant odour.

‘Francine,’ she asked, wanting to know if the woman had been apprehended but Holly mistook her meaning.

‘It’s just Becca,’ she said reassuringly.

‘But Francine was here,’ Gail asked, feeling confused. Nothing seemed to quite make sense. She couldn’t get a handle on her thoughts. They were blurred at the edges, and she had no control over the way they swooped in and out of her head. Recalcitrant thoughts. Maybe she should arrest them for being disorderly. She giggled at that, earning a worried look from Holly. For a moment Gail wondered if she should cast about for something heavy to weigh down her thoughts, to anchor them, but there appeared to be nothing in the sterile bathroom that might serve this purpose. 

Holly was peering at her, trying not to seem alarmed, to be in fact reassuring. Gail wanted to tell Holly not to bother, that her concern was palpable in the little crease in her forehead, the slight downward turn to her lips and the way her eyes weren’t smiling like they normally did around Gail. 

Smiling eyes. Now that was an odd concept, Gail mused, but that’s how Holly usually looked at her, with smiling eyes. It made Gail want to smile herself, but then she remembered that Holly’s eyes weren’t smiling, in fact looked quite sombre. It confused Gail but more than anything it troubled her, especially because she bet she was the cause of Holly’s anxiety.

‘Frankie arrested her,’ Holly said, breaking into Gail’s ruminations. ‘Frankie arrested Francine,’ she clarified when Gail looked at her uncomprehendingly, having lost that particular train of thought. See her thoughts were wayward—they just flew off somewhere.

‘Oh yes, Francine,’ Gail said, doing her best to appear composed. ‘Arrested.’

‘Not before Holly socked her in the jaw,’ Lisa said in a way that seemed almost proud, like she had personally trained Holly to do just that. ‘And then finished her off with a jab to the solar plexus. After that Francine was too winded to put up a fight.’

‘Wow! Always knew that boxing class at the gym would come in handy, Holly,’ Gail tried to joke, tried to make it seem like she had her wits about her but her head felt heavy and the words came out shakily. She was aware she should be asking more about Francine but she couldn’t piece all the disjointed bits of information together. How had Francine come to be in the bathroom and when did Frankie appear and why was Holly, an avowed pacifist, punching people.

‘I’ve got the ice,’ Becca held up a bag, ‘the kitchen can give us more if we need it.’ 

That’s right—Becca was here. Gail had quite forgotten that. How many people were in the bathroom? It wasn’t that big. And they were all pressed in around her far too closely—with the exception of Holly of course. Gail didn’t mind how close she got. 

Becca passed the ice bag to Holly, who placed it on the side of Gail’s face. The relief was almost instant. It made Gail realize how much pain she was actually in. Lisa had said she hadn’t broken anything but one side of her face felt like someone had used it as a punching bag. It was throbbing horribly and Gail could tell it was already beginning to swell.

………………………………..

When the paramedics arrived they asked Gail to give her pain a number out of ten. Gail began to scrunch up her forehead but that started up the hammering in her head again, making her realize movement of any kind was not a good idea. She was nothing if not a quick study. A fact that had always seemed to elude Elaine.

‘Be honest,’ Holly said. ‘Gail tends to be stoic,’ she explained to the paramedics.

‘Most cops are,’ one of them said. ‘So Detective, can you give me a number out of ten?’

‘Um you know probably a three, maybe four,’ Gail said, not sounding at all certain.

‘So an eight or a nine?’

‘You know pain is relative,’ Gail said, now seeming quite lucid. ‘There must be studies. Holly would know’

‘Yeah,’ the paramedic exchanged a look with Holly.

‘How about you describe the pain,’ the other paramedic suggested.

‘It hurts like fuck,’ Gail admitted, biting her lip to stop from saying more. She hadn’t meant to blurt that out but now she’d owned up to the pain, Gail found she could no longer ignore it. ‘No pain meds, though’ she added through gritted teeth. ‘They make me loopy.’

‘How about a small dose of Percocet? Just to take the edge off,’ the first paramedic suggested, looking to Holly for permission.

‘Don’t look at her,’ Gail said. ‘Of course she’ll say yes. She doesn’t like to see me hurting. No meds.’ Even as she spoke, Gail was assailed by blinding pain. She became aware too of an incessant ringing in her ears that was getting louder and louder so she had to strain to make out what people were saying. For a moment she thought she might pass out again. She closed her eyes.

‘Detective Peck, I’m administering the Percocet. We need you to stay awake,’ the first paramedic said, clearly reading the situation. 

Gail didn’t bother trying to nod. ‘I’m kinda drunk, I think,’ she said.

‘It’s okay. I promise it will be a small dose,’ the paramedic reassured her.

As they wheeled the stretcher out of the bathroom, Gail caught sight of herself in a long mirror. The right side of her face was streaked with blood. Her lip was split and starting to swell and there was the beginning of a black eye. Her mouth felt strange too. Running her tongue along her top teeth and then to the side, Gail found one was jagged. She remembered then. Francine and that hideous grin and how she smashed Gail’s face into the basin. 

Remembered too how she was dulled by alcohol and too slow to react. Elaine would never forgive her. It was like Perick and the peephole all over again. But Gail had at least moved her head, jerked it to the side, so only one half of her face connected with the basin, but still with a terrible crunch and hard enough that she blacked out. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Where is she,’ Elaine demanded. There was a dangerous glint in her eye, which made Frankie, who wasn’t someone who scared easily, take a step back.

‘The paramedics just arrived. Lisa thinks Gail is concussed. I’m guessing they’ll bring her out any minute,’ Frankie said. She was standing in the entrance to the restaurant, not wanting to crowd Gail or get in the way. There were enough people who knew what they were doing looking after her. Besides, Frankie felt she needed to keep an eye on things out here.

‘I don’t mean Gail,’ Elaine said impatiently, ‘where is Dr Hart.’

‘Uh,’ Frankie stalled. Should she tell Elaine? She got the sense that if the superintendent got anywhere near Francine Hart she would tear her limb from limb. There was a ferocity about Elaine, which she was barely keeping in check. ‘Why?’ Frankie tried to ignore the eyes boring into her. You’d think she’d know better than to question a superior officer, especially a Peck.

‘Are you asking me to explain myself?’ It was a well-rehearsed show of haughtiness but then that’s all it was. Frankie recognized there was no real conviction behind the words. ‘You’re not stupid Detective. You know I outrank-‘

‘Sergeant Vincent has taken Dr Hart to the station,’ Frankie interrupted, refusing to be intimidated. ‘To question and charge her.’

‘Fiona Vincent? She’s been here already? I only just put a call through to her and it went straight to voicemail.’

‘The Sergeant was on her way here to have dinner with the Lisa and the Stewarts and,’ Frankie waved her hand about, ‘and their party,’ she finished lamely, wondering why she couldn’t just say Gail.

‘Well,’ Elaine was suddenly all business—no hint of the displeasure she exhibited a moment ago. ‘I best get down to 15.’

‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, Superintendent.’ Fuck why had she said that?

‘You don’t.‘ It was a statement not a question. The scorn came not from Elaine’s tone but from the way in which she drew out the two words, just like Gail might when she was about to turn on someone she thought an imbecile. Elaine rocked back slightly on her heels. There was a flush to her cheeks, which became more marked as her anger gathered. 

‘You need to be with your daughter,’ Frankie ploughed on. In for a penny, in for a pound and all that. Maybe she should just hand Elaine her badge and be done with it. ‘As Gail’s mother you can’t get involved in this case and you most definitely shouldn’t question Francine. Not if you want a solid conviction. So go see Gail.’

Elaine appeared about to snap, her mouth opened and Frankie braced herself for the vitriol that was sure to follow, but a sudden movement at the door to the bathroom distracted the superintendent. The paramedics were wheeling out the stretcher. Holly and Lisa flanked one side and Holly’s parents brought up the rear. The diners seated furthest away craned their necks to get a glimpse of what was going on. Gail would hate that.

‘Gail has her new family. She has no need for me,’ Elaine said stiffly, but Frankie heard the hurt behind the words.

‘She won’t if you just stand by,’ Frankie said, still not quite sure what was driving her to do this. ‘Or is rejection what you’re aiming for?’

‘I, I’ Elaine stuttered. ‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’

The only time Frankie ever saw the Superintendent not in total command of herself was when it came to Gail. Clearly she loved her daughter more than she ever let on, despite the completely fucked up way she raised Gail. Frankie wondered if it was the knowledge of where she had gone so wrong with Gail that made Elaine hold back. At some level did the Superintendent believe she didn’t deserve Gail’s forgiveness?

‘Yeah you do,’ Frankie said firmly. ‘I’m an expert at pushing people away so I recognise the move. ’

‘I,’ Elaine began and then furrowed her brow. ‘Gail wouldn’t want me there.’ It was said in such a sad, resigned way, and remarkably Elaine, like her voice, suddenly seemed small and deflated, her usual decisiveness deserting her.

‘Just go,’ Frankie urged. ‘Tell Holly you’ll meet them at the hospital.’ She got that Elaine felt excluded. You only had to spend five minutes with Gail and Kurt and Becca to realize how much the three got along. Hadn’t Elaine even taken Lisa and Fiona Vincent under her wing and here they were out to dinner with the Stewarts. Frankie sighed. She didn’t even know why she cared, why she was intervening to help the superintendent. After all, Elaine had brought this on herself.

The paramedics had almost drawn level with them. Would she need to push Elaine in front of the stretcher, Frankie wondered, but then the superintendent took a tentative step forward.

‘I’ll follow you,’ Elaine said to Holly as Gail and the entourage passed. Holly gave a grim nod, which probably did nothing to encourage Elaine but Frankie ushered her out the door anyway.

‘Mother,’ Gail said once the stretcher was out on the sidewalk. Gail’s voice was so quiet that Elaine, who was hanging back, had to hustle to her side and lean in close to hear. ‘I didn’t look through the peephole. I fucked up again, mother.’

Because the paramedics didn’t stop but pushed the stretcher forward, neither Gail nor the others caught the stricken look on Elaine’s face. Frankie saw it though. It was as if it was Elaine who had been sucker-punched in the stomach.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

‘Gail needs to be seen immediately.’ Lisa was at her bitchy, superior best but the triage nurse wouldn’t be moved.

‘Tell that to the folks who’ve been waiting here hours,’ the nurse said disinterestedly, not looking up from her clipboard. She jerked her thumb in the direction of the waiting room, which actually wasn’t that busy. By Holly’s reckoning anyway. ‘From the sounds of it, your drunk friend needs to sleep it off.’ 

Holly had come across people like this nurse during clinical rotations in med school. The hospital gatekeepers. If you didn’t keep in good with them, butter them up and charm them, your life could be hell. Normally they didn’t jeopardize patient care though. Lisa must have done something to really piss her off.

‘She is not drunk,’ Lisa said indignantly.

Which was not entirely true, Holly thought, although not the reason Gail’s dulcet tones could be heard all the way from the bed she’d be parked in, down the corridor and out to the nurses’ station. Seemed like even a small dose of pain meds didn’t agree with her. She was currently singing a medley of Nina Simone songs. It had started with ‘My baby just cares for me’ and had morphed into ‘Feelin’ good’ and she was now doing some complicated riffing that sounded surprisingly good, especially for someone with concussion. Elaine and Becca had stayed with Gail, and Holly wondered how the two women were coping with noise level.

‘It’s the meds, ah,’ Holly glanced at the ID clipped to the woman’s uniform. ‘Beth. Gail has a low tolerance.’ 

‘And smells like a distillery. If she doesn’t shut up soon, I’ll be calling the cops to throw her into the drunk tank,’ Beth said, her mouth draw in a grim line.

‘Detective Peck is an officer of the law.’ Lisa’s voice was rising. ‘We’re talking a potential head injury here. She needs a CAT scan immediately.’

‘Is she responsive?’

‘Uh yes,’ Lisa said.

‘Knows her name, where she is, what day it is etc,’ Beth flapped her hand.

‘Well, yes.’

‘Any sign of a skull fracture?’

‘No’

‘Spinal damage?’

Lisa shook her head.

‘Vomiting.’

‘No but she’s going in and out of consciousness,’ Lisa protested, the barrage from the nurse making her uncharacteristically helpless. ‘And she is showing signs of confusion.’

‘Doesn’t sound urgent. Take a number. Wait your turn,’ Beth turned to go. It was nasty and mean and totally uncalled for.

Holly didn’t get it. Lisa usually treated the hospital as if she owned it. Being a surgeon meant people normally listened to her, ostensibly at least, and as a surgeon at this very hospital surely she could, in fact should, be dictating a treatment plan for Gail.

‘It’s not the first time Gail has been concussed, Beth,’ Holly said, hoping to make some sort of connection with the nurse by using her first name. ‘As you know, that increases the chance of brain injury. Dr Barrett is on her way in to take a look at Gail. I think she’d want a CAT scan.’

‘Dr Barrett. Why didn’t you say Miss Peck was Dr Barrett’s patient,’ Beth said, instantly cooperative, though she shot Lisa an accusatory look. ‘We’ll send Miss Peck up straight away.’

‘It’s Detective Peck,’ Lisa corrected, her annoyance plain. Beth didn’t answer but busied herself with the clipboard. Plainly they were dismissed.

‘What was that about?’ Holly asked as she and Lisa walked back to Gail’s bed.

‘I slept with Beth.’

‘And?’

‘And we were having fun but Beth wanted more. As if. I’m a surgeon. She’s a nurse. So I put a stop to it,’ Lisa said, as if that was justification enough.

‘Oh Lisa,’ Holly shook her head. ‘Will you never change.’

Gail was sitting up in bed. If not for the state of her face, she would have appeared quite blissful. She stopped singing when she caught sight of her girlfriend. ‘Did we get married Holly?’ It was hard to miss the slightly accusatory tone to the question.

‘Ah no,’ Holly said tentatively, uncertain of where this was going.

‘Are you sure?’

‘I think I’d remember marrying you, Gail,’ Holly smiled. 

Gail smiled back and then looked around, frowning a little when she saw Elaine seated at her bedside. ‘And I guess Superintendent Mom would have organised a big ass wedding we couldn’t forget even if we wanted to,’ she said to Holly in what she clearly thought was a whisper but which in fact was audible to everyone gathered around the bed.

Elaine coughed uncomfortably.

‘Why did you think we were married?’ Holly asked, tilting her head to one side in that way that made Gail think she probably should propose, in fact was crazy not to.

‘I told Lisa my name was Gail Stewart and neither of you corrected me.’

‘Oh. About that,’ Holly started, but Elaine interrupted before Holly had a chance to ask Gail why she’d insisted her last name was Stewart.

‘Are you going to take Holly’s name,’ Elaine sat up straighter in her chair, her alarm evident.

‘We haven’t even proposed.’ Gail screwed up her face, and then looked at Holly for confirmation, ‘Have we?’

‘No,’ Holly took Gail’s hand. Why was it that every time Gail got high on meds she became fixated on marriage? ‘We decided marriage wasn’t for us, not right now anyway.’

‘An overrated institution,’ Becca said, affably despite the fixedness of her opinion.

‘But imagine the party we could have,’ Gail beamed.

‘Well, there is that,’ Becca agreed. ‘It’s as good a reason as any to get hitched.’

‘You could just have a party,’ Lisa said. ‘Then we wouldn’t have to buy presents.’

‘True and I wouldn’t have to tolerate you being Holly’s bridesmaid,’ Gail smiled sweetly. ‘A win-win all round.’

Beth, who had appeared with a wheelchair at the beginning of the marriage conversation, sniggered.

‘You’re not a fan of Lisa’s,’ Gail regarded the nurse, narrowing her eyes as if she were getting a reading on her. ‘You dated Lisa didn’t you?’

‘Technically we were just having fun,’ Lisa said hurriedly before Beth could answer.

Gail turned a withering gaze on Lisa.

‘Clearly nothing wrong with her head,’ Beth said dryly, ‘but won’t hurt to do a scan.’

The ride up in the elevator to radiology was tense. Nobody spoke at first. Gail held Holly’s hand. Beth was behind the wheelchair looking straight ahead, while Lisa stood to one side, as if trying to put distance between herself and the nurse. 

‘Are you an ex too?’ Beth said to Gail after a moment.

‘God no,’ Gail replied. ‘Girlfriend of the best friend. Too blue collar apparently. Thinks Holly could do better. Preferably a doctor but at the very least someone with a six-figure income.’

‘That sounds like Dr Gordon.’

Lisa sniffed.

‘But she’s dating a cop now,’ Gail continued as if Lisa wasn’t there. ‘A white shirt though.’

Beth arched an eyebrow and smiled at Lisa, a big fake smile. ‘Slumming it, doctor. My, my times have changed.’

Gail laughed and Holly couldn’t help smirking, which amused Gail even more because she knew Holly still hadn’t quite forgiven Lisa for that blue-collar comment. Before Lisa could respond, the elevator dinged and the doors opened onto the radiology floor.

‘Saved by the bell,’ Gail quipped and Beth laughed.

Really, there was nothing wrong with Gail’s head, Holly thought as she followed Gail and the nurse out of the elevator. Gail may have lost her filter temporarily, which was not unusual with concussion—not that she had much of one around Lisa at the best of times.

………………………………………………………………….

‘The scans have come back clear, but given this isn’t the first time you’ve been concussed, I’d like to keep you in overnight for observation,’ Alannah smiled. 

She was being all doctory, too doctory, Gail decided. Her voice firm but pleasant and she had that reassuring smile. Exuding confidence and authority. Gail was no fool. It was a trick so she wouldn’t make a fuss and would do what the doctor ordered. They all knew how to do it. Even Lisa sounded like that back in the restaurant bathroom. Maybe they were taught it in med school. Maybe it was even a course requirement. Gail made a note to ask Holly later. She was tempted to point out that Alannah exhibited a good less vocal control last night when Gail overheard her calling out Frankie’s name. Really, the walls in that apartment were paper-thin.

‘Plus she was drunk to begin with, I’d be admitting her’ Lisa said. ‘And don’t forget the paramedics gave her morphine.’ 

Trust Lisa to snitch, Gail thought. Maybe Lisa was getting her back for what she said to Beth the nurse. She would have rolled her eyes but she was alert enough to know that would probably hurt.

They were back in the emergency ward, and Gail was propped up with pillows on a bed that felt anything but comfortable. Elaine and Becca were no longer there but no one seemed to have noticed their disappearance. Gail made another note to ask Holly about that as well. The number of things she needed to remember were definitely not helping her headache in the least.

‘So we’ll take you up to neuro once a bed is free,’ Alannah said as it was decided.

‘Hooolly,’Gail whined, reaching for her girlfriend’s hand.

‘Good thing you’ve got a tough skull,’ Holly squeezed Gail’s hand and smiled but the worry in her eyes was still there. Gail hated making her uneasy. Maybe she should retire and grow flowers or something. Maybe that would make Holly happy.

‘Holly,’ Gail tugged Holly’s hand urgently. ‘No hospitals.’

‘Gail, I’ll stay with you,’ Holly said gently, but Gail could hear the sigh behind her words. Was she being a brat? Probably. Her head still felt like it was swimming and she couldn’t determine whether it was from the injury, the alcohol she’d consumed or the morphine. Perhaps it was a combination of all three. What a cocktail. Maybe she should come up with a name for it. The headbanging high perhaps?

When they’d first brought her into the hospital, Gail was floating. Wow had she felt good, like everything was just peachy, and she had not a care in the world. She was kind of in her body and out of it, her skin like velvet, soft but sleek at the same time and humming, definitely humming in a deliciously tingly sort of way. Somewhere in the very back of her mind she recognised she was high but couldn’t care less. She must have been grinning because people mainly smiled back, and a few looked at her curiously. 

Now though, that feeling was starting to wear off. Like a wave receding on an azure sea, the iridescent water that had drawn you here in the first place ebbing slowly to reveal a pebbled shore, the hard little stones digging sharply into the soles of your feet. No doubt about it, Gail felt like she was on that pebbled shore right now. Her head throbbed dully and her lip stung and her jagged tooth was starting to ache and she was having trouble focusing on any one idea. The only thing Gail was certain about was she hated hospitals and wasn’t staying here a minute longer than she had too.

‘Can’t I go home. Holly, it will be more comfortable for both of us,’ Gail cajoled, doing her best to sweet-talk Holly. There may have even been a small bat of her eyelids, no mean feat given the state of her head.

‘I strongly recommend staying in overnight. If anything should go wrong, and I’m not suggesting it will, but if it did then we can respond immediately, which can be vital with head injuries,’ Alannah said.

‘I know what you’re up to,’ Gail said, pointing her finger at Alannah.

‘Sorry?’ 

‘Tricking me with your doctor voice.’

‘My,’ Alannah started uncertainly.

‘She’s still a little high,’ Holly said as an aside to Alannah.

‘I heard that, Holly,’ Gail pouted. Traitor, she thought.

‘And I heard you entertained Emergency with an impromptu concert,’ Alannah smiled.

‘See you’re being tricky again. You can’t trust doctors,’ Gail said. ‘Even my girlfriend’s siding with you.’

‘Gail, its just, well it will make me feel better, okay,’ Holly said, the words coming out with difficulty. ‘I’ll worry less if you’re here. I know you hate hospitals and I know you’d rather be home and I know that of course you’re going to be fine but can you just do this one thing. It’s only one night and I promise I’ll be here the whole time and—‘

‘Alright, alright,’ Gail threw up her hands. If she wasn’t starting to feel so lousy she’d just kiss Holly but right now that was definitely not an option, particularly as Elaine and Becca had reappeared in the ward and were marching towards the bed with an overnight bag. Well, Elaine was marching and Becca looked a lot less uptight. ‘No need to ramble, all you needed to do is ask, nerd.’

Holly quirked her lips in a way that suggested she was faintly amused and Gail was pleased she’d been able to divert her, even if briefly. By this time, Becca and Elaine had arrived at the foot of Gail’s bed.

‘I thought they would have admitted Gail by now,’ Becca said. She didn’t wait for an answer before continuing, ‘Kurt and Zach went to Alannah’s apartment and got you pyjamas and toiletries and a change of clothes for tomorrow.’ Becca held up the overnight bag. ‘They can’t come in as Emergency has a limit on visitors. It’s supposed to be two but I think Elaine has some sway,’ Becca winked. ‘Anyway, Kurt sends his love and said to look after that head of yours, Gail.’

‘And I’ve got you a private room,’ Elaine chimed in. ‘I didn’t think you’d appreciate sharing.’

‘Wow,’ Gail scowled. ‘Is everyone conspiring to keep me in the hospital. Next you’re going to tell me donuts are being served for breakfast.’

‘That can be arranged,’ Alannah said brightly.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

‘We spend too much time in hospital,’ Gail said. 

‘Don’t remind me,’ Holly winced.

‘Sorry, sorry,’ Gail said softly, looking pained at causing Holly distress. 

They were lying on the bed in Gail’s room, positioned so they were face to face. Holly had an arm around Gail’s waist. It was a protective gesture and Gail wondered if Holly had consciously placed her arm like that or whether it came from an instinct to shield her. Gail didn’t mind either way. It felt safe and calm being this close to Holly. Now the effects of the morphine and alcohol had dissipated, Gail was remembering. She hadn’t yet told Holly, but the thing she kept thinking about, the thought she couldn’t shake, was she believed Francine might kill her. 

There was this look in Francine’s eye, which Gail caught just as Francine smashed her face was into the basin, and it was so depraved and so malevolent that Gail was convinced she didn’t stand a chance. Had she had time before she blacked out, Gail would have berated herself for allowing this to happen, for getting so drunk she was taken off guard. 

It hadn’t occurred to her that Francine would attack her in a public place. It should have. Hadn’t Francine approached her at the swimming pool and threatened her and why hadn’t Gail taken that as a warning? How could she have been so stupid? If she’d overlooked something so obvious in a case it would be considered negligent, enough to earn her a formal rebuke, if not a demotion. She was a police officer for fuck’s sake and she let someone sneak up on her.

‘You are thinking too much,’ Holly said, placing a soft kiss on Gail’s forehead. ‘It’s not good to over tax your brain after a concussion.’

‘Is that right, doctor,’ Gail mustered a small smile.

‘Gail, it wasn’t your fault, getting attacked. You couldn’t have known Francine would follow us to the restaurant. Don’t blame yourself for this and don’t let anyone else either.’ 

‘You mean Elaine?’

Holly nodded. She was so earnest Gail wanted to believe her. ‘How did you know what I was thinking?’ Gail asked.

Holly did that lopsided smile thing, but there was something in her expression that said, really, you need to ask that question. ‘I reckon I know something about the way your mind works.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail said. ‘So you punched Francine.’ She said it to deflect, to stop from admitting that she had thought she might die. Gail didn’t think Holly was ready to hear that yet, not so soon after the event. 

‘You really want to hear about that now?’

‘Yeah,‘ Gail said, lacing her fingers with Holly’s.

Holly hissed and seemed about to pull her hand back, but Gail wouldn’t let her. 

‘Let me see,’ she said. Even in the weak strip of light that came from a fixture above the bed, Gail could tell that Holly’s hand was red and puffy. ‘Shit, Holly it’s really swollen. We need to get some ice on it.’ Gail tried to sit up in the bed.

‘What are you doing?’ Holly asked in alarm.

‘Looking for the call button. We need a nurse.’

‘Gail, nothing’s broken,’ Holly started to protest but Gail looked unconvinced. ‘See I can make a fist.’ Gail looked at her sternly. ‘Oh okay,’ Holly said, finding the call button on her side of the bed and pressing it.

‘And you told the paramedics I was stoic,’ Gail grumbled.

‘Oh, I’d definitely be asking for the best pain meds in the house if I had my face all smashed up,’ Holly said, and then bit her lip. ‘Oh shit. I didn’t mean that to sound so, so callous.’

‘It’s okay,’ Gail smiled at Holly’s agitation. ‘But just so you know, I may have to rename you slugger.’

After the nurse left—having furnished Holly with an ice pack and a dose of Tylenol—Gail, with much prompting, finally convinced Holly to tell her what happened after she passed out. 

‘And don’t feel you have to spare me. I want all the details,’ Gail informed Holly. ‘I’ll find out anyway so it’s better if I hear your version.’ 

‘Is that how you get all your confessions,’ Holly teased but Gail just looked at her implacably. ‘Oh all right.’ 

It transpired that Frankie, who had driven Holly to the restaurant, had just merged back into the traffic when she happened to look in the rear-view mirror and see Francine lurking on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. Frankie pulled the brake and flipped the hazard lights and, leaving the car in the middle of the road, sprinted across to the restaurant, ignoring the irate drivers behind her who were honking their horns and yelling obscenities. By the time she reached the sidewalk, Frankie had lost sight of Francine and guessed she must have slipped inside. 

Once in the restaurant, Frankie almost immediately spied Holly, Lisa and Zach but no Gail. She rushed up to the table demanding where Gail was. Holly didn’t reply but stood so fast it made her chair tumble back and onto the wooden floor with a crash. The commotion drew the attention of the other diners and several of the wait staff, but Holly was already off, making a beeline for the bathroom with Frankie and Lisa close behind.

When Holly pushed the swing door of the bathroom open, the first thing she saw was Gail lying on the floor and the second was the blood on her face. Francine was raising her foot like she was about to stomp on Gail’s head. Just for a moment everything seemed to slow so that it was as if Francine’s foot was suspended there. Holly wondered why Gail didn’t roll out of the way, didn’t put up some resistance. Then she realised Gail was unconscious. An unnatural calm descended over Holly and with it the tunnel vision of adrenaline and she just knew, god knows how or why, but she was certain that it was she who would stop Francine. There was no other option in fact.

Francine was so intent on Gail, she didn’t immediately register Holly’s shouted ‘stop.’ When she finally did, she turned bleary, unfocussed eyes on Holly. That’s when Holly hit her. A punch to the jaw and then the solar plexus. Holly knew the second blow would take her out and so it did. It was swift and it was coolly done like Holly had been practising for this her whole life. Francine fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. Actually, Holly decided, it was more like Francine subsided, which was no surprise really as Holly had literally knocked the wind out of her.

It was then that Holly was overtaken with rage. She could hear the blood rushing in her ears and there was this violent surge that started in her gut and filled out her lungs. She didn’t notice Lisa and Frankie come in and, if she were completely honest, may have even continued hitting Francine had her most pressing concern not been Gail. In any case Frankie said, ‘I’ll take it from here,’ and swiftly cuffed Francine and led her out not in the least gently. Quite possibly Francine’s shoulder connected painfully with the doorjamb but Holly took not the slightest bit of notice.

Gail didn’t say anything when Holly finished but just stared at her. 

‘It was too much, oh god I should have waited before telling you,’ Holly said in a rush.

Gail brought her hand up to touch Holly’s face. There was a reverence to the gesture and her expression was serious and then she smiled softly. 

‘Holly, you are totally bad ass,’ Gail’s smile morphed into a grin. ‘If I wasn’t already completely in love with you, I would be now. ’

‘So that’s all I needed to do to stop you running,’ Holly teased.

‘Well, yeah,’ Gail said it like it was obvious and started to screw up her face but then remembered her injuries and the fact that her head felt like she’d gone three rounds or ten with someone. ‘I definitely would have hung around to see you KO Lisa.’

‘Oh, I didn’t actually mean,’ Holly stammered. ‘I was being metaphorical, I guess. I didn’t literally mean that.’ She emphasised the word ‘that’ which Gail took to mean knocking out Lisa. ‘You know at the restaurant Lisa was really concerned about you.’

A memory of Lisa being attentive swam back into Gail’s head. She recalled being confused that Lisa was being so kind. ‘Does that mean we have to be nice to her now.’

‘Well,’ Holly drew out the word and appeared to be thinking. ‘I won’t hold you to it.’

‘You think I can’t,’ Gail challenged. ‘You know I’m capable of being nice to people.’

‘Absolutely,’ Holly smiled. ‘Just not Lisa.’

‘Hmpph,’ Gail pouted. ‘And just for the record, I was already in love with you, even before that night at the Penny.’ 

Holly smiled and kissed Gail very gently on the lips, avoiding where it was split, and tightened her arm around Gail’s waist to draw her closer.

‘Holly, I thought I might die in that bathroom,’ Gail said so quietly it was nearly a whisper. She didn’t want to alarm Holly—she just felt she owed it to her to be honest. 

‘I was afraid you would too,’ Holly said, pulling Gail closer still.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Gail didn’t feel particularly rested in the morning. She never slept well in hospitals and then the nurses kept coming in every two hours to wake her. Which meant they also woke Holly. At least they hadn’t said anything about Holly being curled up in bed with her. It had to be against hospital regulations but perhaps Elaine had put the fear of god in them. Although, it could be Alannah’s doing. It was obvious the nursing staff universally liked the neurosurgeon.

By morning, Gail was utterly sick of reciting her name and date of birth and the day of the week. ‘It’s Thurs—nope it’s Fridays now,’ she’d said, as she saw the small hand on the nurse’s watch tick past midnight. She had sounded like a smartass and the nurse wasn’t impressed. She kind of grunted in a noncommittal way and pursed her lips. 

Waking up everything was sore. The drugs had worn off and there was a dull hammering in Gail’s head, one side of her face was tender and she was again conscious of the jagged tooth.

Frankie slipped into the room just after 6 am when the sullen nurse was doing a two-hourly check. The detective gave Gail a curt nod but didn’t say anything, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Gail got the distinct impression she wasn’t a happy camper. Had something gone wrong with Francine’s arrest? 

‘Shit, you’re up early,’ Gail said when the nurse left, ‘or didn’t you get to bed.’

Frankie gave a weak smile, which was weird because she very seldom smiled. Her resting bitch face was really quite sour, and yet somehow Frankie pulled it off so people thought her alluring rather than bad-tempered. She looked exhausted. Dark circles under her eyes and a tension about her that might have come from lack of sleep but Gail sensed had another and far less benign cause. It wasn’t like Frankie needed to get up early and come to the hospital to check on her welfare, especially as Alannah was sure to have updated her.

‘Just need to borrow Holly,’ Frankie said, ‘is she around?’

‘Bathroom,’ Gail said, as Holly emerged freshly showered and dressed. 

Holly didn’t seem surprised to see Frankie, although her brows knitted together when the detective asked to speak to her outside. 

Well that was peculiar, Gail thought after the two women went into the corridor. Maybe Frankie needed to take Holly’s statement, but that could’ve waited a few more hours. And Frankie was acting strangely. When she walked in she hadn’t even said hello to Gail or asked how she was. It was possible she was here about the Melanie Fisher investigation. Perhaps there had been a new development, maybe they had a solid suspect and needed forensics’ input. Although, if that were the case, Rodney or someone else from the morgue could have easily covered for Holly.

Maybe the concussion was throwing her off and she had misread Frankie’s behaviour and it was nothing. Just a case of overthinking because she couldnt switch her cop brain off. The appearance of Gemma Lister prevented further deliberation. If Frankie looked like shit, Gemma was worse. She had a moroseness about her which was at odds with her usual peppiness. Whatever was dragging her down seemed to have manifested itself physically in the way her shoulders drooped, her downturned mouth and in the worry that clouded her eyes. Gemma started when she saw Gail.

‘Yeah, not a pretty sight,’ Gail said dryly. ‘Black eyes and bruising don’t do a thing for my complexion.’

Gemma tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace. She was tense just like Frankie, altough it was a nervous tension. And like Frankie, her eyes were ringed with dark shadows but puffy as if she’d been crying.

‘I need to examine you,’ the resident said, not looking directly at Gail.

‘I forgot you were on neuro,’ Gail said. ‘Did you pull an all-nighter?’

‘What,’ Gemma started again.

‘You look,’ Gail waved her hand in Gemma’s direction, ‘exhausted. I thought maybe you had a double shift.’

Gemma shook her head.

‘Didn’t sleep?’ Gail asked.

Gemma didn’t say anything but swallowed audibly. Okay, this was even weirder than the encounter with Frankie.

‘Well, can’t say I slept the sleep of the just either,’ Gail joked. ‘Between the nurses asking me questions and all the things that beep in this place—’

‘Restorative sleep is important after a concussion,’ Gemma interrupted, her speech hurried and stilted, like she was reciting form a textbook. When the resident moved closer to the bedside, Gail noticed a bead of sweat on her upper lip. 

‘You don’t say,’ Gail said acerbically, and then felt bad because Gemma seemed so rattled. To be honest, it was only a little bit bad because, well, Gail Peck didn’t generally bother trying to put people at ease.

‘I think you’ll be okay to go home today,’ Gemma said when she’d completed the examination. ‘Dr Barrett will want to double check of course.’

‘Ookay,’ Gail drew out the word, Gemma’s jitteriness now making her awkward. ‘Ah thanks.’

Gemma didn’t reply but turned and practically fled from the room. Jeez, what was that all about, Gail wondered? Was Gemma uncomfortable because she’d tried to come on to Gail that time or were Gail’s injuries so hideous she couldn’t wait get away? Maybe it didn’t have anything to do with Gail—duh, its not always all about you, she thought—maybe Gemma had had a bad case or lost a patient or something.

Gail’s head hurt too much to be figuring out why everyone was acting so strangely, and anyway the sudden and pressing need to empty her bladder took priority. She got out of bed gingerly but even so standing made her woozy. Maybe she should have waited for Holly to help but then she and Frankie were busy doing secret squirrel business. Gail shuffled to the bathroom feeling like she was doing a good impression of an old lady. 

Looking in the mirror, Gail took stock. The black eye was prominent now, her lip fat, and the bruising on one side of her face was purpling. She didn’t look great. Then again it could have been a lot worse. Applying ice to her face immediatley had apparently helped. 

When she thought about Becca’s concern, in fact about the way everyone had made sure she was okay, Gail experienced a rush of warmth in her chest. It was a happiness and a contentment that she realized, with a measure of surprise, came from being loved, and it persisted despite the dull headache and her other twinges, and despite her battered reflection. Until Holly, Gail never believed she mattered much. This feeling of being valued, of people caring for her, was still novel and faintly miraculous, and sometimes she had to remind herself it was real. Gail did a mental eye roll. She really had been spending too much time with Chloe.

When Gail came out of the bahtroom, Holly was sitting on the bed. She looked up and gave Gail a grim smile.

‘Okay not you too,’ Gail said.

‘Me too what?’ Holly blinked.

‘Everyone’s been acting weird this morning. Frankie. Gemma Lister. Now you. Did someone die or something?’

Holly paled.

‘What is it Holly?’ Gail said. That last bit about someone dying had been a joke but now she was worried.

‘Come sit,’ Holly patted the space next to her on the bed. Gail did as she was asked. Holly reached for her hand but didn't look directly at Gail, instead staring striaght ahead. ‘Last night, well actually in the very early hours of this morning, but overnight I guess while we were here, well not here but maybe when we were still in Emergency, I mean they admitted you fairly late—‘

‘Holly what?’ Gail asked, trying but not managing to conceal her impatience.

‘Your house—I mean our house, um someone set fire to it. It’s, oh fuck it’s completely gutted, Gail.’

‘Oh.’ Perhaps it hadn’t quite sunk in, but the relief that everyone was fine overtook the weight of the actual calamity. Gail knew her small ‘oh’ was a woefully inadequate response, and unsurprisingly Holly peered at her with unmistakable concern.

‘I’m so sorry Gail—‘Holly began but Gail interrupted her.

‘Nobody died?’

Holly shook her head.

‘The neighbours okay?’

‘Yeah, it only affected our house. The fire fighters managed to control it before it spread to the surrounding properties.’

‘That’s good then.’

‘Good? But everything’s gone,’ Holly said. ‘Everything. All our possessions. Everything.’ 

‘It’s just stuff, Holly. It’s replaceable,’ Gail said gently. ‘Thank god we weren’t in there.’ 

Gail could see she was fighting it but Holly, who normally remained positive about most things, was glum. It was the final straw in a year of crazy. Home had always been a sanctuary for Holly, and increasingly for Gail. Even though she bought and renovated the house, Gail hadn’t quite committed to that idea—that home could be more than a roof over your head—until Chloe came to stay. 

The bubbly redhead insisted they compost and plant vegetables and a strawberry patch which last spring had produced the sweetest, reddest strawberries. On Saturdays when they weren’t working, Chloe would drag Gail to the farmer’s markets and back to the house laden with produce to cook up a feast, inviting friends over, at least the usual suspects—Dov and Chris, Frankie, and Oliver and Celery and even on occasion Andy—to eat and drink. Gail had grumbled at first but fairly quickly had to admit—only to herself of course—that she liked Chloe’s hominess and actually looked forward to what had quickly become a weekend ritual of sorts. For the very first time in her life Gail understood what home really meant. Holly moving in only strengthened that feeling.

A single tear tracked down the side of Holly’s face. Gail pulled her in for a hug. Frankie had clearly thought it best to spare her and break the news to Holly first but it probably would have worked better the other way round. Gail had become quite inured to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Actually, just at this moment it was probably better not to reference a speech where Hamlet contemplated taking his own life. But whatever, she was used to life throwing crap at her and Holly was not.

‘I’m sorry, it’s just,’ Holly sniffed, ‘with you in here and Francine might have killed you and then our house. It’s just—‘

‘Kind of too much,’ Gail supplied. Holly nodded against her shoulder. ‘We have each other. That’s all that matters.’

‘But the house,’ Holly said pulling back to look at Gail.

‘It was a beautiful house,’ Gail said slowly, like she wanted to give that fact its due, ‘but Francine breaking in, kind of, I dunno, tainted it?’

Holly nodded in understanding, her expression sorrowful.

‘This way we can start fresh. Wherever we end up, it will always be just our place. No other history, no ghosts of girlfriends past or of psychos either. There’s something cool about that,’ Gail smiled. 

‘I guess,’ Holly said tremulously.

‘Wait, does Frankie know who did this? It has Francine written all over it but I’m guessing that doesn’t fit the timeframe.’

‘No, it doesn’t. Francine was in custody when the blaze started. The Fire Department estimate it started around 10 pm. Unless she had some sort of sophisticated trigger that delayed the start of the fire, it has to be someone else. In any case, the house was doused in petrol before being set alight.’

‘So no delay trigger,’ Gail said musingly. She chewed at her lip as if deep in thought. ‘Do you remember Gemma Lister, the resident who looked after you after the accident. The one who worked with Francine.’

‘Yeah, of course’ Holly said. ‘Yesterday on the way to the restaurant, I stopped by home to have a shower and grab a change of clothes and, on our way out of the house, Frankie and I literally ran into Gemma lurking on the sidewalk. She was kind of being weird.’

‘Weird? How?’ Gail asked sharply.

‘Evasive. Vague about what she was doing in the neighbourhood.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail said keenly.

‘Okay, what?’ Holly asked sensing Gail was onto something.

‘Gemma came in to check on me while you were talking to Frankie. She seemed really jumpy. Wouldn’t look me in the eye. I got the impression she hadn’t slept last night.’

‘Oh,’ Holly said, understanding immediately what Gail was implying. ‘But she hated Francine.’

‘Yeah, well maybe that was an act or maybe Francine had something on her. I dunno, but Frankie should definitely talk to her.’

Gemma Lister, it transpired, had left the hospital saying she had a migraine and needed to go home.

‘I thought something was off about her,’ Frankie said. ‘God I wish I’d pulled her in for questioning last night then this, your house, you know,’ Frankie waved her hand about vaguely.

‘Having a bad feeling about someone doesn’t mean they’ve done something wrong,’ Gail pointed out. ‘Otherwise we’d be questioning half of Toronto.’

‘That many people give you a bad feeling,’ Frankie said. ‘That’s over a million individuals.’

‘What can I say,’ Gail shrugged, ‘I don’t like people.’

‘Yeah, well add Gemma Lister to your list. Just so you know, Fiona Vincent is on her way over to Gemma’s apartment.’

‘We can’t know for sure she’s responsible for the fire,’ Holly ventured.

‘True,’ Frankie agreed, ‘but my gut feeling says she is.’

‘What about Francine,’ Gail asked, ‘has she been charged.’

‘Yeah. She admits being in the bathroom but isn’t saying anything more. Francine’s lawyer is insisting she have a psych assessment before we interview her again. Her parents are also on the way here from Boston.’

‘I’m no doctor but I have a feeling she belongs in a psych ward not prison,’ Gail said.

‘And I guarantee she’ll use her mental health as a defence,’ Frankie scowled.

‘As long as she stays away from Gail, I don’t care what happens to her,’ Holly said vehemently.

………………………..

It took several hours for Gail to be discharged. First Alannah came to examine her and give her the all clear. She was surprised to hear Gemma Lister might be responsible for setting the fire. ‘She’s a good doctor. She cares a lot about people. It’s hard to see her doing something like that.’

‘That’s what most people say about the perps we arrest,’ Frankie said, her countenance still grim.

Next Gail had to get her discharge papers sorted and then there was some awkwardness when both Becca and Elaine showed to take her home—well not home, but back to Alannah’s place. Elaine had backed off, saying she’d visit in the evening. Becca only stayed at Alannah’s long enough to fix lunch, while Holly got Gail settled on the couch. 

On her way out, Becca gently hugged Gail, careful of her injuries. She clasped Holly a little tighter, giving her arm an extra squeeze as she pulled out of the hug. ‘I know Alannah said to stay as long as you like, but you know you are welcome to stay with us anytime,’ Becca said.

Elaine arrived just as evening fell. Gail was dozing and she woke at the sound of her mother’s voice. Elaine’s mouth was set in a grim line—come to think of it, she often wore that expression—and Gail couldn’t tell if it was from disapproval or concern.

‘Fiona Vincent has arrested Gemma Lister. She’s confessed to setting the fire,’ Elaine said without preamble. The information was delivered in a way that suggested Elaine was satisfied with this result.

‘I can’t say that fills me with joy,’ Gail sat up, pulling the blanket with her. She must have moved too quickly for it made her light-headed. The room titled and with it Elaine, making Gail quite nauseous. 

‘Are you okay, honey?’ Holly swam into view. She sat on the end of the couch and placed her hand on Gail’s arm to steady, to reassure, although to Gail it seemed as if Holly were leaning with the room, just like Elaine. Gail tried to nod but that only increased the dizziness. 

‘Yeah,’ she said after a moment, even though the wooziness had not completely passed but it was never good to show weakness in front of Elaine. ‘Yeah.’

Holly took her hand and squeezed it.

‘Well, it was you who figured out Lister was the firebug,’ Elaine said. Gail could hear the accusation in her words.

‘It’s just,’ Gail blew out a breath, ‘I think Gemma Lister’s not a bad person and I bet Francine Hart is somehow behind this.’

‘Not a bad person,’ Elaine echoed, not bothering to disguise her incredulity, ‘the woman razed your home to the ground.’

Gail started to reply but then stopped. Elaine had the decency to look somewhat abashed.

‘That was harsh, I didn’t mean,’ she began to say, but Gail waved a dismissive hand. At least that movement didn’t hurt.

It was true of course—her house was gone—and Elaine had put it so baldly that for the first time Gail allowed herself to grieve a little for the home she had made. That had been one of her first real adult decisions. A place to call her own, one that she had chosen. It had marked a shift from her usual temporary accommodation arrangements, which she generally drifted into for lack of other options or at least a will to create them. Still, she must remember what she told Holly back at the hospital. They had each other. Nobody died. That’s all that mattered.

‘Every silver lining has a cloud,’ she said.

‘You mean every cloud has a silver lining,’ Elaine corrected, her eyes narrowing a little with worry. Clearly she thought Gail still affected by the concussion.

Holly understood though. She kissed Gail’s cheek—the good one. Mostly she was good at deciphering Gail’s cryptic remarks 

‘You know you can come home,’ Elaine said, ‘both of you, until you find somewhere to live. It’s a big house and Bill would keep out of your way. I would see to that.’

Elaine tried to make the offer sound casual but the words were wooden as if she was just doing what might be expected of a mother (but then when had she ever done that) and was unused to and uncertain of the tenderness and solicitude this entailed. Gail wasn’t sure how to respond. She had detected a note of hopefulness in Elaine’s voice, which confused her. The thought of returning to her childhood home, of taking Holly to live under the same roof as her parents, of being in close quarters with her father who had essentially shunned her, well Gail decided having her face smashed into a basin again might almost be preferable. 

‘Thank you Elaine,’ Holly said, clearly sensing Gail wasn’t going to reply to her mother, ‘but Alannah’s very happy for us to stay as long as we like.’

‘Vey well,’ Elaine said briskly, ‘if you need money to get re-established—‘

‘The house was insured,’ Gail cut in, ‘we’re okay.’

‘I should be going then,’ Elaine said stiffly, getting up out of her chair.

‘What do you know about Detective Palmer or former Detective Palmer,’ Gail asked abruplty.

‘An odious man,’ Elaine twisted her mouth with distaste.

‘Was he on the take?’

‘There were rumours. He retired suddenly and before anything could be substantiated. A decision was made to drop the investigation into his conduct.’

‘Could he have had anything to do with sex trafficking?’

‘Not that I heard. I wouldn’t put it passed him though.’

Gail paused. She wasn’t sure how far she could push this with her mother—if she dared ask that next question. ‘Was Steve mixed up with him?’ 

Elaine started. Just for a moment, a fraction of a second really, she lost her customary composure and Gail saw something that looked very much like fear in her mother’s eyes. But then it was gone and Elaine drew herself up as if nothing had happened. ‘Where did you get that idea,’ she said as if the very idea of linking Steve and Palmer was preposterous. ‘They worked in different units and in different divisions. It was unlikely their paths crossed.’

‘But did they,’ Gail persisted.

‘Why the interest,’ Elaine was annoyed now.

‘I came across Palmer in the Melanie Fisher case. He pretty much told me to back off because he had dirt on Steve.’

‘Palmer’s a crook. A low-life. Of course he’d say that to you. He’d do anything to protect his skin.’

It sounded plausible enough. Gail regarded her mother for a long moment. ‘Including murder?’ she asked.

‘Including murder,’ Elaine said heavily. ‘Now I believe you should be resting that brain of yours, not trying to solve anymore crimes, not today at least, wouldn’t you agree Holly.’ She gave a forced little laugh.

Holly made a noise that could have passed for agreement yet could just as well sounded as if she were demurring. Gail knew Holly hated it when Elaine tried to make her complicit in handling Gail. Because make no mistake, Elaine still believed Gail required handling. 

The superintendent took a step toward Gail. It looked very much as if she were considering kissing her goodbye, but then she stepped back and flapped her hand in an awkward half wave. They always did this little dance these days. Elaine had never been overly affectionate. Gail had vague recollections of hugs when she was a toddler but she couldn’t trust whether these memories were real or imagined.

‘Am I just imagining it or was there something a little off about my mother’s response,’ Gail asked when Holly returned from seeing Elaine out.

‘She did seem a little guarded when you asked about that detective but that’s not usual for Elaine,’ Holly said. ‘Honey is this something you really want to pursue right now.’

‘It needs to be looked into,’ Gail said stubbornly.

Holly made a rueful face. ‘You didn’t tell me Steve had come up in the investigation,’ she finally said.

‘I didn’t have a chance before…’ Gail trailed off and pointed to her face.

‘Oh, oh,’ Holly as she realized what Gail was referring to. ‘You know Elaine’s probably right. As soon as Palmer heard you were a Peck, he probably knew exactly what to say to push your buttons.’

‘I guess,’ Gail didn’t look overly convinced.

‘Can you let it go for now?’ Holly asked gently. ‘Concentrate on your recovery. You are on medical leave.’ She had come to sit back on the couch next to Gail and took her hand now, giving it a squeeze that was hopeful more than anything else. ‘Maybe it’s something Frankie could chase up,’ Holly ventured.

‘She‘s not even convinced it’s a thing,’ Gail sighed. ‘I think she let Chloe and me question Palmer to stop us complaining about being sidelined. Anyway Frankie likes the ex-husband for it. I doubt she’d be bothered looking into this any further.’ 

‘That may not a bad idea just at the moment, especially if Frankie’s got a suspect.’

‘You don’t get it. I think this guy could be covering up for Melanie’s murderer,’ Gail said, unable to let it go.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Remember Chloe found out Melanie was a freelance journalist. Well, when she disappeared she was writing an article about sex trafficking in Toronto. Palmer was the lead detective in missing persons. He wouldn’t let his partner Larissa Chang pursue that angle. Apparently he was quite adamant. She had just made detective and felt she had to do as she was told.’

‘Okay, I agree it sounds like it’s worth checking out, if only to rule it out as a possibility.’

‘And Palmer kinda smells bad, if you know what I mean.’

Holly regarded Gail with an amused smile. ‘I take it you’re not referring to his body odour.’

‘Thankfully I didn’t get close enough to notice that,’ Gail said. ‘Although, I bet it was bad too. He was that kind of guy. Stained t-shirt that barely covered his gut.’

‘So you want to arrest him for being a slob,’ Holly teased.

‘What, no,’ Gail said, not tuning into Holly’s light-heartedness.

‘So what has Steve got to do with Palmer?’

‘Palmer intimated he had some information about Steve. Said Steve knew where the bodies were buried.’

‘So you’re worried he’s referring to crimes Steve hasn’t admitted to or been charged with.’

Gail nodded.

‘I thought everything had come out at the trial.’

‘But what if it didn’t?’ Gail asked. She somehow managed to look wide-eyed and earnest all at once. 

‘Honey, don’t you think Steve’s paid enough. He’s done his time. He’ll never work in law enforcement again.’

‘I know. I know,’ Gail sighed again. ‘But don’t I have a duty?’

‘Oh honey.’ It was Holly’s turn to sigh. She took Gail’s hand again and kissed it. ‘I think most probably that detective—Palmer—was messing with you and you have nothing to worry about.’

Gail might have believed that—wanted to believe it—had it not been for Elaine’s obfuscation. It made Gail almost certain her mother was hiding something, that there was much more to this story than Palmer yanking her chain. 

Fiona Vincent came over just as they were finishing dinner. It had been an irritable affair. Gail had tried to talk to Frankie about Palmer but Frankie wasn’t interested.

‘Trafficking has become the latest cause celeb,’ Frankie said, ‘especially with that hot new commissioner—‘

‘You never told me the trafficking commissioner was hot,’ Holly turned to Gail, her tone playful. 

‘I guess she was, is,’ Gail shrugged a bit irritably and turned back to Frankie. ‘But people trafficking has become a cause celeb or whatever you want to call it Frankie because it’s actually a problem. The fact that Kate is attractive or whatever is immaterial.’

‘Kate. On first name terms,’ Frankie cocked an eyebrow. She was being an asshole and Gail couldn’t understand why. 

‘Jesus, Frankie take this seriously,’ Gail said.

‘Kate Lewis is a crusader and I totally understand why,’ Frankie said. ‘I went to her talk at 15. She’s on a mission. And it doesn’t hurt that she’s attractive and charming.’

‘And so?’ Gail demanded.

‘So people like that can lose perspective. If you knock on her door asking questions that imply a murder is linked with sex trafficking of course she’s going to jump on board.’

‘It was not like that,’ Gail insisted. ‘You’re the one who’s blinkered, Frankie. I don’t understand why you won’t consider anyone but the ex-husband.’

‘Enough,’ Alannah held up her hands. ‘No shoptalk, not while we’re eating. Anyway, Gail you should be taking it easy.’

Gail would have scowled but last night, once the drugs wore off, she had found it best to keep her face as immobile as possible. It was harder to do than she would have guessed. Up until now she hadn’t been aware of the extent to which she used facial expressions to interact with people. It wasn’t like she had a neurological tic or anything like that or went around winking at everyone. But a raised eyebrow or a twist of the lips could do a lot of talking.

Holly stood and started to clear the plates. She shot Gail a worried look, which made Gail feel guilty again. Not enough to drop the subject or leave Frankie alone, though. 

‘I just want you to keep an open mind,’ Gail told Frankie.

‘Except Melanie’s ex is a guilty as fuck.’

‘Just because his alibi doesn’t stack up doesn’t mean he murdered her.’

‘Motive, opportunity, history of abuse,’ Frankie ticked them off on her fingers, ‘lying about his whereabouts was the icing on the cake. I’m betting he murdered Mitchell Cormann too.’

‘Maybe but it won’t hurt to look into this other angle,’ Gail persisted. ‘It’s not like there’s any urgency to wrap up this investigation. Melanie’s been dead four years.’

‘Seeing as I’m in charge of this investigation and you’re on medical leave, I guess I can rush it as much as I want.’

Gail couldn’t help it. She screwed up her face, which hurt like hell. It must have showed because before Gail could say something to Frankie like ‘what the actual fuck,’ Holly had moved to sit next to her and placed a hand on her arm.

‘Honey,’ Holly started to say but then paused. It made Gail realise Holly was working up to ask her to do something she wouldn’t necessarily want to do. Holly would probably appeal to Gail’s better nature and give her that lop-sided smile and Gail would be putty in her hands. 

However before any of this could transpire, the intercom sounded through the apartment as irritating as an overactive blowfly on a sweltering day, a jarring sound that ricocheted in Gail’s head, kick-starting the hammering that had only just waned. She winced. Maybe she should just let go of the investigation and go back to bed. Let the others deal with the crime. She chanced a glance at Frankie and saw, if anything, the detective looked relieved at the interruption.

‘It’s probably Fiona Vincent,’ Frankie said, making her way to the door and nodding in confirmation when she saw the sergeant’s face framed by the intercom screen. ‘She said she’d drop by.’

As soon as she stepped inot the apartment, it was Fiona picked up the tension. ‘Everything all right here,’ she asked, looking around at the four women.

‘Anderson’s just being a dick, don’t worry about it,’ Gail said in that syrupy tone she used when she was being particularly sarcastic.

‘Jesus Peck, lucky you’re injured or—‘ Frankie trailed off as she caught Alannah’s stony expression.

‘Or what?’

‘What are you two five years old,’ Alannah said in exasperation. ‘I can’t believe you used to date–‘

‘Date,’ Frankie said incredulously, her expression sour.

‘Or whatever it was,’ Alannah sighed.

‘Whatever it was didn’t involve a lot of talking,’ Frankie said.

An uncomfortable silence descended then. For a moment everyone was quite still. Even Frankie started to look sheepish. 

‘Way to go Frankie,’ Gail finally said, ‘because that wasn’t in the least awkward.’ 

Gail knew Holly wasn’t that bothered by her past with Frankie—that she understood it for what it was or what Gail had imagined it was—sex with no labels to define or tie them down, no expectations or strings attached. It was what Gail needed and all she could handle after losing Holly. Fuck buddies were the words Holly used when she first sussed out that something had gone on between Gail and Frankie—in Gail’s mind that was about right. Back then, post Holly’s departure to San Francisco, she hadn’t factored that Frankie might want more. 

On the other hand, Gail wasn’t sure Alannah was so relaxed about being confronted by Frankie’s past, not when their relationship was still so fragile and untested. It was only a few days ago that Frankie said she was willing to commit. 

‘Cabin fever already?’ Fiona Vincent said, an eyebrow raised. She seemed faintly amused and Gail would have said something cutting had Frankie not beat her too it.

‘Wanna share why you’re here, cause it isn’t a social call, is it Sergeant Vincent,’ Frankie drawled so lazily it bordered on insolence.

Alannah pursed her lips, more in frustration than disapproval or so it seemed to Gail.

If anything, Frankie’s response just increased Fiona’s amusement. ‘Well, Lisa did want to come over here with me but I said it was police business.’

‘Have you charged Gemma Lister?’ Holly asked, clearly tiring of the small talk, if that’s what it could be called.

‘Yes,’ Fiona nodded gravely, switching into job mode. ‘She asked that I apologise to you and Gail.’

‘Apologise,’ Holly echoed, not quite believing what she was hearing.

‘Francine Hart made her do it, didn’t she,’ Gail chimed in. ‘I bet she had something on Gemma.’

‘You figured that out,’ Fiona said, in such a way it suggested she was a little impressed by Gail’s powers of deduction. ‘Two months ago, Gemma gave a patient the wrong meds. It was after a sixteen-hour shift. Francine was supposed to be supervising her but the hospital was swamped after a major pile-up. Gemma was tired. She missed the note that said the patient was allergic to penicillin.’

‘The patient died?’ Alannah asked.

‘Yep and Francine covered it up. Told Gemma not to worry and altered the electronic record. Dov’s working on retrieving the original record now.’

‘Why would Gemma agree to that,’ Holly asked.

‘Gemma comes from a family of doctors. In fact, a long line of doctors. A wing at the hospital was even named after her grandfather. There was a lot of pressure on her to succeed—to live up to the family legacy. So being kicked out for malpractice was not an option.’

‘I know the feeling,’ Gail said.

‘So Gemma agreed to the cover-up—said she was pathetically grateful that Francine would go out on a limb to protect her,’ Fiona continued. ‘Then a week ago Francine contacted Gemma, threatened to expose her if she didn’t go along with the plan to burn your house down. Francine had been watching the house so knew you two weren't staying there. Gemma swears she wouldn’t have gone ahead if anyone had been home, no matter what Francine had on her.’

‘Do you believe her?’ Frankie asked.

‘I’m inclined too,’ Fiona said. She seemed about to continue but hesitated.

‘But?’ Gail said. It was obvious Fiona had more to share but something was making her hold back. ‘But Gemma’s not the problem,’ Gail supplied when the sergeant didn’t immediately reply.

‘No,’ Fiona sighed, ‘it’s Francine of course. She’s alleging Hooly assaulted her. She wants to press charges.’  
………………………………………………..

Gail was already in bed when Holly finally came upstairs. Fiona Vincent had stayed late talking over Francine’s latest bit of insanity and Gail had finally excused herself, fatigue taking over. Her head was aching again, although she suspected yesterday’s incident wasn’t the cause. Rather, it had been the tedium of trying to second-guess Francine. Round and round they’d gone, endeavouring to figure out if she had a case and how much damage she could do to Holly.

‘Frankie and I have been pulled off the investigation,’ Fiona had informed them, ‘given we’re both dating people who are Holly’s close friends. Plus Frankie and Lisa are witnesses.’

‘That’s good right,’ Gail said. ‘You can tell them what happened. Holly didn’t have a choice.’

Fiona and Frankie didn’t say anything but Gail swore they exchanged a look. It was almost imperceptible. A slight narrowing of the eyes, and there was a knowingness and a heaviness to their expressions, like the information that Gail guessed they were holding back was not favourable.

‘This is just Francine stirring up trouble, right. She did the same when she lodged the complaint about me. It’s her pattern. Best form of defence is attack.’

‘True,’ Frankie agreed, but she didn’t sound entirely certain.

‘I could lose my job,’ Holly said quietly. When Gail turned to look at her, her face was drained of colour and she was quite stricken.

‘It won’t come to that,’ Gail said firmly.

‘Surely not,’ Alannah said, ‘no offence Gail but look at your face. Frankie took photos at the hospital and I can provide report on your injuries. Francine doesn’t have a leg to stand on, Holly.’

‘So who’s interviewing Holly?’ Gail demanded, ‘I mean most of 15 know and like her. How are you going to find someone neutral.’

‘Matt Kennedy. He’s running the investigation now.’

‘Okay, he’s fair,’ Gail said. ‘He only worked that one case with Holly before he joined internal affairs.’

‘Do I need my lawyer,’ Holly asked.

‘Um,’ Gail wasn’t certain how to advise Holly. The interview should just be routine. Once Matt heard Holly’s side of the story and spoke to Frankie and Lisa, he should be able to dismiss Francine’s allegation, shouldn’t he? 

‘It probably wouldn’t hurt,’ Fiona said with that reassuring cop voice. The one they all used when they had to break bad news to someone. ‘It pays to be cautious, especially when dealing with someone as tricky as Francine.’

Okay, that didn’t sound good. If Holly had done nothing wrong, why would she need a lawyer? The same thought must have occurred to Holly because she breathed out an ‘Oh shit.’

‘It’s going to be alright, Holly,’ Gail said.

‘But if this goes to trial anything could happen. Francine’s got that flashy lawyer—‘ Holly trailed off.

‘It’s not worth thinking about, not unless it happens,’ Gail reassured but Holly still looked bleak.

‘How about some tea,’ Alannah said brightly, too brightly. Although Gail appreciated her attempt to shift the mood.

‘How about something stronger,’ Frankie suggested.

When Gail had excused herself to go upsairs, the other four were on to their second whisky. Alannah had produced the bottle from the back of the cupboard. It had been aged for twenty years in a special chestnut cask, and Frankie made a great show of sniffing it as if she were a connoisseur. A gift from a very boring ex,’ Alannah explained as she filled four tumblers, ‘this whisky was probably the most interesting thing about her.’ It was about the meanest thing Gail had ever heard Alannah say. 

We should grow flowers,’ Gail said as Holly slipped into bed next to her.

‘Do you mean in our new place?’

‘Nuhuh, we should give up our jobs and grow flowers.’

‘I can really see that happening,’ Holly smiled a little goofily, making Gail wonder how many whiskies she’d had.

‘You don’t think I could do it?’

‘Well,’ Holly stopped as if she were considering Gail’s question, ‘you might last a day.’

‘You have no faith in me,’ Gail pretended to huff.

Holly didn’t respond immediately, and when she did her voice was small. ‘Do you have faith in me, Gail?’

‘Of course I do,’ Gail’s reply was swift. She put her arm around Holly’s waist and drew her closer.

‘But, am I a bad person?’

‘God no,’ Gail exclaimed. ‘You’re like the best person I know. Why are you even asking that?’

‘Because when I hit Francine, I wanted to keep on hitting her. I was full of rage. Like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I think,’ Holly paused and looked down and away from Gail, ‘I think I might have been capable of killing her.’

‘If someone was trying to kill you, I’d wanna murder them.’ Gail tilted Holly’s chin so she was looking at her again. ‘It’s a normal reaction to protect people we love. Your big brain must know that. And the fact is you didn’t kill her. You came nowhere near. Some people would say you showed admirable restraint.’

‘Yeah.’ Holly looked doubtful.

‘Oh yeah.’ Gail cupped Holly’s cheek and leaned in to place a soft kiss on her lips. ‘Holly, this will come to nothing. I promise.’

…………………………………..

Holly left early in the morning, having arranged to meet with her lawyer and then Matt Kennedy first thing. 

‘Good luck,’ Gail said.

‘Do you think I need it?’ Holly tried to sound casual but Gail picked the slight tremulousness in her voice.

‘God no! Just tell Matt exactly what happened. Then we can put this behind us.’

When Gail heard Alannah leave for work, she shuffled downstairs, hoping for a chance to speak to Frankie alone. Frankie was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and looking gloomy. 

‘So,’ Gail said once she’d made herself a coffee and sat down opposite her friend. ‘Why were you being such an ass last night?’

‘Yeah and good morning to you too Peck,’ Frankie scowled.

‘You knew Francine had pressed charges against Holly before Fiona Vincent showed, didn’t you.’

Frankie shrugged but didn’t deny it.

‘So why keep it to yourself?’

Frankie shrugged again.

Gail blew out a breath. ‘Frankie we know each other pretty well.’ She held up a hand in a stop gesture when the other woman started to demur. ‘Nuh, enough of your bullshit. What’s this about?’

‘Why does it have to be about anything?’

But for her injuries, Gail would have raised an eyebrow. As it was she did her best to look sceptical. Frankie stared back, her expression somewhere between defiance and contempt. Really, Gail had thought they were passed this kind of posturing, that they knew each other well enough to be honest with one another.

‘You’re pissed,’ Gail said, ‘at me and Holly and you’ve no reason to be.’

‘Yeah, well maybe Fiona’s right—it’s cabin fever.’

‘I know I’m hard to live with but it usually takes more than a couple of days for people to want put me out on the street.’

Frankie twisted her mouth and said nothing again.

‘You know what I think,’ Gail started.

‘Really, do we have to do this,’ Frankie interrupted.

‘Yep,’ Gail said heavily, popping the ‘p’. ‘The thing is I don’t think you’re really pissed with Holly and me.

‘Go on Peck, enlighten me with your psycho-babble.’

‘Can you cut the crap for a minute.’

Frankie looked as though she were about to say something but stopped herself. The defiant look was gone and in its place was something Gail thought seemed awfully like guilt.

‘I fucked up, alright,’ Frankie breathed out heavily. ‘I shouldn’t have let Francine get to you. I should have anticipated she’d turn up like that.’

‘You don’t think I’m beating myself up over the same thing,’ Gail exclaimed. ‘But we’re not infallible. Yeah, it was a rookie mistake, but because we’re police officers we think we can handle someone like Francine and so we’re not as rigorous or as cautious as we would be in a normal case.’

‘Maybe,’ Frankie conceded, although she still sounded dubious.

‘Anyway, if I hadn’t been drunk, Francine wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do this to me,’ Gail indicated her face and Frankie winced. ‘So if you want to ascribe blame then I’m the one that you should be pointing the finger at.’

For a few beats Frankie was silent again and Gail decided to wait her out. Then Frankie shook her head slowly. ‘You and Holly are my friends. I should have been able to protect you and, because I didn’t, Holly is facing assault charges. I fucked up big time.’

It made sense then—Frankie’s hostility—she didn’t like to let people down. It was a hangover from a childhood where disappointment was a constant and where her mother contrived to blame her children for her shortcomings. For Frankie, friendships, real friendships, were rare too. Gail got that. Understood that it was hard for Frankie to trust, to let her guard down enough to allow people in. But she’d let Gail and then Holly in, and now felt like she’d failed them.

‘Frankie, neither Holly or I hold you responsible for what happened and you know what, nothing is going to be achieved by indulging in self-flagellation—by either of us.’ 

Frankie twisted her mouth again.

‘That’s not the only thing bothering you is it,’ Gail asked, remembering the way both Frankie and Fiona had fallen silent last night when Gail said Holly had no choice but to hit Francine. ‘Something happened in the bathroom didn’t it, something that isn’t good for Holly.’

‘I, look,’ Frankie started and then sighed heavily. 

‘What did you see Frankie,’ Gail pushed, sounding more strident than she meant to. ‘Or is that the problem, you didn’t see what happened.’

‘No, I was right behind Holly. I saw everything.’ 

‘Yeah, and?’

‘I saw Holly kind of slam into Francine and push her away from you. Then she punched Francine. Twice.’

‘Holly didn’t say anything about pushing Francine.’

‘No. I think she’s forgotten. It all happened so quickly and she was focussed completely on you.’

‘And what, you’re saying Holly didn’t need to punch Francine once she pushed her out of the way?’

‘It could be interpreted that way. It’s possible we could have subdued Francine without Holly going all Muhammad Ali on her but then again Francine was kind of crazed. Like nothing would stop her from harming you.’

‘So what are you going to say in your statement?’

‘That Francine was in a frenzy and we had no way of knowing what she was capable of doing and Holly had no option but to punch her. That Holly had to make a quick judgment call and it probably saved your life.’

Gail swallowed. ‘And that’s what you actually believe?’

‘I’m not lying,’ Frankie interrupted hastily. ‘Everything I tell Matt will be factual. I’m just going to leave out the parts that could be misconstrued.’

‘We just have to hope Lisa does the same,’ Gail said despondently.

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Holly’s mood, when she returned home that evening, was considerably lighter. Gail didn’t want to quiz her too much about the interview but it sounded as if it had gone smoothly. Matt didn’t appear surprised when Holly showed with her lawyer. He was courteous and pleasant but his questioning was thorough. Holly told Gail it was clear Matt wasn’t cutting her any slack on account of her relationship with 15, both professional and apropos Gail. Still, her relief that it was over was palpable.

‘So just routine,’ Gail asked, doing her best to sound nonchalant.

Holly nodded. ‘I think I let myself get worked up over nothing.’

The next week passed slowly. Gail wasn’t allowed to watch TV or play video games or even look at her iPad and strenuous activity of any type was ruled out completely. ‘You need to rest your brain,’ Alannah had said, ‘think of it as allowing your brain to convalesce. Checking it into a retreat.’ Gail twisted her mouth in displeasure.

In the absence of anything better to occupy her, Gail spent her days cooking, joking with Alannah and Holly—and Frankie when she stopped by—that she was like a 1950s housewife with dinner on the table the moment her spouse came through the door after a busy day at the office. Holly had laughed and Frankie said she hoped Gail wasn’t contemplating a foursome because eeww. ‘As if, Anderson.’ Gail rolled her eyes, which she could do now without a band of pain shooting across her temple. Which made Frankie observe that a true 50s housewife wouldn’t answer back. ‘Just how you like your woman, huh,’ Gail had snarked. Which in turn led Alannah to shake her head and say ‘you two are children.’

There was the obligatory trip to see her therapist. ‘I don’t need to tell you an experience like this can lead to depression,’ Leslie had said, ‘mainly because it shakes your sense of self, coming face to face with the realization of your vulnerability.’

‘I didn’t feel overly vulnerable.’ Gail said. ‘Just stupid. I should have seen that coming.’ Which resulted in a discussion about how Gail set herself impossible standards. When Gail revealed what she said to Elaine as she was wheeled out of the restaurant, Leslie urged Gail to bring it up with her mother. ‘And yeah that will achieve exactly what,’ Gail said defensively. ‘Confirm that my mother thinks I’m a fuck-up.’ 

‘You may be surprised,’ Leslie simply said.

Becca came and took Gail to the dentist and shopping for clothes for both her and Holly. They had each only bought an overnight bag to stay at Alannah’s and the rest of their clothing had been lost in the fire. It was on one of these trips that Gail asked to stop by the house or at least it’s ‘smoking ruins’ as she put it, the acerbity not masking her apprehension. 

It was a mistake of course. The intensity of the fire had caused the windows to shatter and the exterior bricks were blackened were the flames had rushed out. Nothing had escaped the inferno inside. A section of the second floor had collapsed exposing part of an upstairs bedroom, the one Gail had thought might one day do for a nursery. Anything that hadn’t burnt was charred and the ground floor was under an inch of dirty water. It was a miracle the neighbouring houses had been spared.

‘Thank god you and Holly weren’t home,’ Becca said.

Gail grunted non-committedly. She wished she were anywhere but here. Seeing the ruins of her house was more confronting than she had imagined. It left her wretched and somehow numb, like she was in delayed shock. 

Sensing her mood, Becca said nothing for a moment. Gail looked away from the house—or what remained of it—bowing her head and looking at the ground beneath her boots, sludgy where the fire fighters had dragged their hoses across the front yard, flattening the shrubs Gail had planted one summer. She breathed in deeply, mainly to supress the sob that threatened to erupt from her chest.

It was then that Becca pulled her into a hug. Gail didn’t resist. The ease with which she accepted Becca’s hugs had surprised Gail but Holly had not seemed in the least astonished. ‘Mom hugs,’ she’d said to Gail as if that was explanation enough. It made Gail realise that this was one more thing missing from her childhood. The warmth and comfort of a parent’s embrace, arms that encircled you and said that everything would be all right, that held you tight, a shield against the world. 

It helped, this hug from Becca but not enough for Gail to stop the bitterness that bubbled up. It made her feel like the Gail of old, caught between dejection and wanting to lash out.

Gail swallowed. ‘Do you believe people can be cursed?’

Becca looked at her curiously, but also knowingly like she recognised where Gail was going with this.

‘Holly would tell you no, emphatically. There is no basis for it in science.’

‘But do you believe it?’

‘I believe some people are more prone than others to fatalism. What psychologists refer to as an external locus of control. Where you think there is little or nothing you can do to change your life so you blame luck, destiny, supernatural forces, and other people, really anything outside your self. On the other hand, people with an internal locus of control believe that what happens in their life is nearly all down to them, and that even when chance events occur, what is important is not the event itself, but how you respond to it.’

‘I think you’re giving me a pep talk.’ Gail smiled ruefully.

‘Is it working?’ Becca tipped her head to one side in that way Holly did. 

‘Maybe but that also sounds like I brought this,’ Gail indicated the house, ‘upon myself. That I made this happen because I don’t have a positive enough attitude or something.’

Becca expression was sympathetic. ‘No, that’s not what I meant to imply. Bad luck happens to everyone—probably in fairly equal measure statistically—the key is how you deal with it.’

Gail blew out a breath. ‘I seem to attract this kind of shit. I’ve probably butted heads with more psychos than most agents from the Behavioural Science Unit at Quantico.’

‘That’s the nature of your job. Nothing more.’

‘Is it?’ Gail turned wild eyes on Becca, ‘because hanging around me seems to be bad news. Holly’s life was smooth and uncomplicated before she met me.’

‘Really,’ Becca said skeptically, her voice still even and pleasant. ‘Well, for starters it was Holly who slept with Francine.’

‘This is not Holly’s fault,’ Gail broke in fiercely.

‘No,’ Becca smiled softly. ‘Neither Holly nor you are to blame. Francine has a mental health problem. As to Holly’s uncomplicated life—when I met you Gail, the reason I was so—‘ Becca paused to search for the right word.

‘Hostile,’ Gail suggested.

‘I was going to say protective, but all right hostile, the reason I was like that was because you had the power to destroy Holly. She fell so hard for you it was impossible for her to find anyone else who measured up, who made her as happy as you.’

‘Happy,’ Gail said doubtfully. ‘I behaved so badly she ran away to San Francisco.’

‘Where she was miserable without you. You have brought an indescribable joy to my daughter’s life and I suspect, no I’m fairly certain Holly has done the same for you. Don’t sabotage that, Gail.’  
…………………………………………..

 

In the car, on the way back to apartment, Gail stared out the window at the passing neighbourhood, not really registering anything but an indistinct blur of passing cars and row after row of houses. How did Becca know her so well, she wondered, because just for a moment when she looked at the ruin of her house Gail thought about cutting and running. It was fleeting, gone even before she’d finished thinking it through, but it had occurred to her that that might be the easiest thing to do. The old self-doubt had crept back in and she had wondered if Holly would be better without her.

‘I used to be like that,’ she said, not turning away from the window but fiddling with a loose thread on the upholstery of her seat. 

‘Mmm,’ Becca queried, her focus seemingly on the road.

‘Fatalistic. I thought things happened to me. Parents who dictated who I should be, drifting into relationships where people pursued and then dumped me, friends who weren’t always there for me because hey I was a bitch and tough and why would I have feelings, and then a serial killer,’ Gail paused and blew out a breath, ‘when bad things happened I thought I deserved it.’

‘You don’t really believe that?’ Becca said sympathetically.

Gail shook her head. ‘Not now. When I met Holly, I thought she was too good for me. Too smart, too nice, too normal. Lisa’s blue collar comments just confirmed what I was already thinking so I sabotaged the best thing that ever happened to me.’

‘Happened to you?’ Becca smiled.

‘That I guess Holly and I made happen.’ Gail conceded with a small smile. ‘Losing Holly, well I could have done my usual thing and disappeared down a hole of bitterness and cynicism but the hugeness of what I’d given up, what I’d fucked up—the chance of being happier than I imagined¬ possible–made me want to change.’

‘So it was about how you responded.’

‘I guess. Yep.’

‘Gail, you are plenty good enough for Holly. I have to agree with her–none of her other girlfriends measured up.’

Inexplicably Gail found herself blushing under the implied compliment. She was grateful Becca was concentrating on driving and couldn’t see the flush on her cheeks.

‘Well, if Francine is my competition…’

‘Oh Holly had some very accomplished girlfriends. Most of them—or at least the ones I met—were nice enough and they seemed to love Holly. But there was never that, I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s like you two have this spark. I know that sounds clichéd. I’ve been pouring cold water on the notion of fate or at least fatalism but it’s like you two were meant to be together. Anyway, some of her exes tried to change her, mould her into something she wasn’t. You love Holly for who she is.’

Gail smiled. ‘What’s not to love.’

Becca laughed. ‘You are by far my most favourite of Holly’s girlfriends.’

They fell into a comfortable silence for the rest of the journey. Gail’s mood had shifted considerably. As they reached Alannah’s apartment, she turned to Becca. ‘Will you come and check out some places Holly and I could to live. She’s so busy, I thought it would make it easier if I got a shortlist and then we could decide.’

‘Of course,’ Becca beamed. ‘Just as long as we don’t have to deal with that sleazy realtor again.’

…………………………………………………….

 

The day before Gail was due back at work, Kate Lewis called.

‘I’ve found a girl who met Melanie Fisher when she was researching the story about sex trafficking,’ Kate Lewis said. ‘ Her name’s Giselle and she’s willing to talk to you, off the record.’

When Kate rang off, Gail called Chloe.

‘What’s up, Gail?’ Chloe asked. ‘Have you eaten all the fudge brownies already.’ Chloe had been visiting Gail every couple of days bringing baked goods with her. Even though Gail pretended to be indifferent, she was actually grateful for the distraction and boy could Chloe cook.

‘As if,’ Gail said, wiping the crumbs from the last of the brownies from the corner of her mouth. ‘Come and get me. We’re going to see Kate Lewis.’

‘Gail,’ Chloe drew out her name warningly. ‘You’re not back on duty until tomorrow.’

‘Chloe,’ Gail whined. ‘It’s an arbitrary start back date. Kate’s located a girl who talked to Melanie Fisher.’

‘Well,’ Chloe started, again drawing out the word so Gail knew she was in with a chance.

‘How’s Frankie going with Melanie’s ex?’

‘He’s lawyered up. The public prosecutor isn’t convinced we’ve got enough to charge him. It’s making Frankie a cranky pants and it’s making working on this case a bit of a drag. In fact, its making me wish you were back at work.’

‘Missing me, huh.’ Gail tried not to sound too pleased. 

‘Well,’ Chloe began but Gail interrupted her.

‘Well, yeah I am pretty awesome.’

Chloe coughed but didn’t reply

‘Did you just roll your eyes at me, Price.’

‘Geez Gail, do you have x-ray vision or something.’

‘Told you I was awesome. Anyway, if Frankie’s getting nowhere, it wouldn’t hurt if we had a word with Giselle, check out her story. I’m still on leave and I bet you haven’t taken a lunchbreak so Frankie can’t ride our asses about it’

‘Check it out unofficially you mean.’ Chloe sounded a little unsure.

‘If you like. That way if it comes to nothing we don’t have to bother Frankie.’

‘I’ll be there in thirty minutes.’

Gail smiled.

………………………………………….

‘Here,’ Chloe said as Gail got into the passenger seat of the car. She handed Gail a tin. Gail tried not to smile too widely as she inched the lid off. 

‘Cup cakes,’ she all but squealed. ‘With frosting. You have missed me.’

Chloe laughed in amusement. Gail tried to scowl but found she couldn’t so instead shoved a cake into her mouth and started chewing.

So,’ Chloe said above Gail’s audible noises of appreciation. ‘I don’t think we can rule out Len Cormann.’

‘Whaat,’ Gail turned to her, mouth full.

‘Dov did some digging. Cormann’s practically bankrupt.’

‘Oh,’ Gail said, remembering the unpaid bills that Cormann had hastily concealed when they interviewed him. ‘But he just sold land to Viscom. He would have made a killing.’

‘Except there’s not a cent left.’

‘Okay explain,’ Gail said impatiently. Chloe was obviously getting a kick from drawing this out but Gail just wanted her to get to the point.

‘Dov and I asked around. Cormann’s an inveterate gambler. High stakes. But he’s not a very good or lucky gambler. He owes money all over town. In fact, he’s been banned from every casino in Toronto.’

‘So you’re suggesting he murdered his brother so he’d get all the profits form the sale of the club land? Pay back his debts. Why kill Melanie then?’

‘He was banned from the casinos six years ago. Well before Melanie and Mitchell disappeared. He owes money alright but to someone who’s a lot less forgiving about debt than the casinos.’

‘Okay who?’

‘Think about who runs illegal gambling in this city.’

‘Lee Chou.’ 

‘Yep. What if Cormann paid back his debt in kind rather than cash?’

‘You mean murder Melanie to shut her up.’

‘Yep,’ Chloe nodded grimly.

……………………………………..

 

‘Yeah, I remember Melanie,’ Giselle said. ‘She thought she could make a difference. Hah. As if.’

They were seated at a table in a small park. Giselle was hunched, a cap pulled low over her eyes and she kept looking around as if she might have been followed. She had eyed Chloe and Gail with suspicion at first and only relaxed when they assured her the conversation was completely off the record. 

At least outdoors Gail didn’t have to explain why she was wearing sunglasses. Her bruises were starting to lose their greenish tinge and become yellow, and while she could cover the one on the side of her face with make-up, there wasn’t much she could do for the black eye.

‘Tell the detectives what you told me,’ Kate Lewis encouraged gently.

Giselle sighed. ‘It’s big business this trade.’ She lit up a cigarette and drew on it heavily. The tremor in her hand and her grey pallor suggested she was a user. She was impossibly thin, her coat drawn tightly around her even though the day was unseasonably warm. 

‘We heard one girl can bring in as much as $300, 000 a year,’ Chloe said.

‘Sounds about right. But it’s not just the pimps driving this,’ Giselle said. ‘There are more johns out there than girls to service them. So they started getting girls from China.’

Gail exchanged a look with Chloe. ‘Getting?’ she asked.

‘Smuggling I guess. They’re illegals.’

‘Do you know who’s bringing them in?’ Chloe asked.

‘ Lee Chou.’

‘The crime boss?’ Chloe prompted.

‘Yeah. These day’s it’s easier and more lucrative to smuggle people than drugs or guns.’

‘And Melanie knew this,’ Gail said, trying not to sound too eager. ‘About Chou’

‘Yep,’ Giselle took a long drag of her cigarette, blowing out the smoke forcefully. ‘She was going to expose it. Look, I need to get back. I’ve been gone too long.’ She did a quick sweep of the park with her eyes and pulled her cap even lower over her forehead.

‘You’re still doing this work?’ Chloe asked.

‘Hey don’t judge. You do what you have to do.’ Giselle stubbed out her cigarette aggressively.

‘Here,’ Gail fished in her wallet. ‘Take my card. Call me if you think of anything else or if you need help.’

Giselle eyed the card like it carried the plague and took a step back. ‘Nuh uh,’ she said. ‘If I’m found with that, I’m dead.’

They watched as she scurried across the park, head bowed, hands in her coat pocket. Giselle had obviously swapped her high heels with trainers for the outing, and the shoes looked incongruous with her fish net stockings. All in all she made a sad, shabby figure.

‘How long has she been doing sex work?’ Gail asked.

‘Since she was fourteen,’ Kate replied. ‘That was when she first met Melanie.’

‘So she’s only eighteen,’ Gail said with surprise. Giselle had seemed considerably older. It was mainly the deadness in her eyes, Gail realised, and a jadedness that wrapped around Giselle as tightly as her coat.

‘Yeah. It’s a hard life. She’s an addict. It’s one of the reasons she stays. That and the threats. Most girls are told if they want to leave they have to pay an exit fee. Of course they can’t afford it.’

‘Who Giselle she work for?’ Chloe asked.

‘One of Chou’s goons. Alex Zhang.’

…………………………………………………………..

‘Chou has to be involved in Melanie’s murder,’ Chloe said once she and Gail were back in the car.

‘We need to talk to Cormann again.’

‘I can’t right now,’ Chloe made an apologetic face. ‘Frankie wants us back for a briefing. I’ll text you if I can get away.’

…………………………………………..

Gail didn’t hear from Chloe until late in the afternoon. ‘Not possible to get away. Fill you in later,’ her text read. Gail blew out a frustrated breath. She could go speak to Cormann herself but she wasn’t supposed to be driving. She could get an Uber though. Just as she reached for her phone, Holly came through the door.

‘Your home early,’ Gail said brightly—too brightly—hastily shoving the phone under a cushion on the couch where she was sitting.

‘Okay, what are you up to,’ Holly said after she’d leaned in to kiss Gail.

‘Uh what makes you think I’m up to something?’ Gail tried her best to look innocent.

Holly looked at her incredulously, arms crossed.

‘Alright, alright,’ Gail crumpled, ‘I don’t know how you figure these things out. Do you Stewart women have magical powers or something.’

Holly laughed. ‘Spill’ was all she said, coming to sit next to Gail on the couch. Gail rolled her eyes.

‘Not a good idea and I’m definitely not driving you over to interrogate this guy,’ Holly said after Gail explained what she had indeed been up to.

‘But Holly,’ Gail protested.

‘ Honey, I love your dedication but you need to talk to Frankie first.’

‘She’s not listening. You heard her the other night.’

‘Can you just wait until you’re back at work tomorrow. Sound Frankie out. If you get nowhere, maybe you could talk to Oliver. Get his advice. I mean it’s not like it’s going to make a difference whether you speak to Cormann tonight or tomorrow.’

‘I guess,’ Gail huffed.

‘Hey, I’ve got a proposal.’ Holly placed a hand on Gail’s knee.

‘I thought you said we weren’t ready for marriage.’

‘Oh you remember that conversation.’

‘Well, yeah,’ Gail shrugged

‘Hey, if that’s something you want—‘

‘Not this minute,’ Gail deflected. ‘What’s your other proposal?

‘Well, seeing as you’ve been cooking for us all week, I thought I’d order take out,’ Holly took Gail’s hand. ‘We can watch a movie and just chill. You know I left work early so I could spend some stress-free time with my girlfriend. Alannah’s in surgery until late. What do you say?’

‘Yeah, okay,’ Gail said doing her best to smile, but not able to stop it turning into a pout.

‘You know I haven’t said anything about you going off to interview a witness without informing Frankie and while you’re still on leave,’ Holly said. ‘And I think I’m being fairly tolerant here so—‘

‘Yeah, yeah. Let’s get dinner and I won’t talk about the case anymore.’

Holly smiled and kissed Gail again. ‘What do you feel like. Pizza? Thai? Chinese? Maybe a burger.’

‘You choose.’

Holly narrowed her eyes in apparent concern and put the back of her hand to Gail’s forehead.

‘What are you doing?’

‘When has Gail Peck not had a strong opinion about food? I’m just checking to make sure you don’t have a temperature.’

‘Ha, ha. Very funny,’ Gail said, but she grabbed Holly and pulled her closer to kiss her. If Holly was surprised by the intensity of the kiss, she didn’t show it or put up any resistance when Gail deepened the kiss, her tongue finding Holly’s and her hand moving to the back of Holly’s head. They hadn’t kissed like this since Gail was injured. Just a peck on the lips and even then Holly was worried she might hurt Gail. Now Gail let out a low moan. 

‘Oh god,’ Holly pulled back in alarm. ‘Are you alright? Did that hurt? We shouldn’t be kissing.’

‘Holly, Holly clam down. That was not a sound of pain.’

‘Oh,’ Holly looked doubtful.

‘Geez, I thought you’d be able to identify my pleasure noises by now,’ Gail arched an eyebrow.

‘Oh, oh,’ Holly coloured slightly, ‘of course I can but you know.’ She waved a hand about airily.

Gail took the opportunity to grab Holly’s flailing hand, once more tugging Holly toward her and using the momentum to pull them both back onto the couch so Holly was lying on top of her. Gail smiled. ‘This is good,’ she said and kissed Holly again. She shifted her leg so it was between Holly’s, flexing it against her centre. Holly stopped protesting and started grinding against Gail’s thigh. Gail moved her hands to Holly’s ass, pulling her closer still.

‘Gail, we shouldn’t,’ Holly gasped but Gail just kissed her, all tongue and teeth and fiercely so Holly would have no doubt as to her intentions.

Gail would have liked to touch Holly, to run her fingers through her folds and dip inside her, to tease her clit, and to feel the nub harden but she didn’t even get a chance to unbutton Holly’s fly before Holly was moaning and then coming, her cries a series of swift gasps.

‘Shit,’ Holly slumped down, burying her head against Gail’s shoulder so her voice was muffled. ‘I didn’t mean for that to happen. That was fast. I guess it’s been a long time. For us anyway.’

Gail laughed and Holly coloured again. ‘What’s so funny?’ she said, lifting up her head.

‘You. You’re adorable.’

‘We shouldn’t be doing this,’ Holly started, ‘your head. Strenuous activity isn’t good post concussion.’

‘It’s been nearly ten days. I think I’m okay Holly,’ Gail smirked.

‘Well okay, right.’ For some reason Holly seemed flustered. ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ she asked.

Gail nodded. ‘What is it, Holly?’

‘It’s just right now I really want to go down on you.’

Gail bit her lip. ‘What are you waiting for Stewart?’

……………………………………………………………..

 

The credits on the movie were rolling when Alannah arrived home.

‘It was a five-hour surgery,’ she explained, stretching out her arms to loosen them. ‘We almost lost the guy.’

‘Have you had dinner. Miraculously Gail didn’t eat everything,’ Holly said, disentangling herself from Gail to sit up on the couch

‘Hey,’ Gail protested. She hadn’t told Holly about the cupcakes. They’d definitely taken the edge off her appetite.

‘I got some hospital slop,’ Alannah grimaced. ‘It’s probably a criminal offense to call it food.’

‘Hey, is Frankie coming over tonight?’ Gail tried to sound casual.

‘No. She and the team are combing through evidence trying to find something more on the suspect. Apparently the public prosecutor doesn’t think there’s enough to get a conviction. Sounds like they might be pulling an all-nighter.’

‘Lucky you’re on medical leave, Gail’ Holly smiled cheekily.

‘Well, it was lucky for you,’ Gail said. Alannah had busied herself making tea so she didn’t see Gail hold up two fingers and mouth the words ‘twice’ or Holly roll her eyes and mouth back ‘braggart’.

………………………………………………………………..

Gail woke to find her hand splayed across Holly’s stomach. It seemed like a message, an invitation really to dip her fingers lower beneath Holly’s boy shorts, so she did just that. Holly moaned appreciatively and turned her face to kiss Gail. 

‘Good morning,’ Gail smiled.

‘It seems like it will be,’ Holly grinned.

‘Got high hopes, Stewart,’ Gail moved a finger to Holly’s clit, Holly’s sharp intake of breath making her smile even wider.

‘High expectations,’ Holly said. That’s when her phone rang.

‘Ugh,’ Gail flopped back on the bed.

‘Dr Stewart,’ Holly said into the phone. ‘Uh huh. Okay. Same place. I’ll be there in fifteen.’ 

‘A body?’ Gail asked when Holly disconnected.

‘Yep. You’re not going to believe this. It’s on the Viscom building site, not far from where Melanie’s body was buried.’

‘It has to be Mitchell Cormann,’ Gail said, sitting up and swinging her legs out of the bed.

‘What are you doing?’ Holly asked.

‘Uh, what does it look like. I’m back at work today so I’m coming with you.’

‘Do you think you should speak to Frankie first?’

Before Gail could answer, her phone buzzed. ‘That’s probably Frankie now,’ she said. Strangely Frankie’s name didn’t flash up on the screen, although the number was one Gail recognised from 15. ‘Yo,’ she said for some reason. It wasn’t an expression she was in the habit of using, in fact never used, and of course it would have to be her mother on the other end of the phone. Later Gail realized Elaine had deliberately called on a landline so their conversation couldn’t be traced.

‘Gail?’ Elaine said, clearly put off by the informal greeting.

‘Uh, yeah. It’s me.’

‘I thought I’d give you a head’s up. Matt Kennedy interviewed Francine Hart last night. She admitted she was in the bathroom but swears she didn’t touch you. She’s alleging you slipped and fell, hitting your head on the basin. She claims that when she went to help you, Holly attacked her.’

‘Shit,’ Gail said.


	48. Forty-eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the character…
> 
> It’s been so long and I’m so sorry. I want to write and update regularly but life has been crazily busy. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I’ve tried to include some reminders for readers who might have lost track of the various threads since I last updated (I know I had!).
> 
> I should probably reread and re-edit this but I think its time to post it. Let me know what you think. I love hearing from you. A big thank you to all those readers who are sticking with the story, who bookmark and subscribe and leave kudos and most especially comment.  
> ………………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………………………………….

‘I splashed cold water on my face and when I looked up from the basin I saw Francine’s reflection in the mirror. She was standing right behind me.’

‘And you didn’t notice her coming into the bathroom?’ Matt asked.

Gail shook her head. ‘She must have been really quiet.’ It sounded lame. Gail knew that. She was a police officer. She was supposed to be observant. It occurred to her that Elaine had not yet rebuked her for that. Which was strange because in the world according to Elaine that lapse made Gail responsible for this current cluster fuck. 

Gail looked around at her surroundings. The interview rooms in Internal Affairs were nothing like the ones at 15. This one was more like a small cubicle. The kind of place you’d expect to be sold a new cell phone plan rather than have the thumb screws applied. In fact, Matt was so close Gail could have leant across the small table between them and touched him. She supposed the lack of formality was deliberate so you’d be lulled you into thinking this was no big deal and then they could catch you off guard. Even if Gail had been naïve enough to fall for such an obvious ploy, a blinking red light in one corner of the room indicated the interview was being recorded and put pay to Matt’s inference that this was no more than an off the record catch-up. 

Gail started to bite her lip and then stopped herself. Never give anything away. It was Elaine’s voice Gail heard. Reflexively she assumed the Peck poker face. Impassive and cool. It was legendary. Her morning hadn’t exactly panned out as planned. The moment her mother had disconnected, Matt had called summoning her to the big building. ‘Just routine,’ he had said. Routine my ass, Gail thought. Matt’s call had put an end to any discussion about accompanying Holly to the building site to recover the second body. 

Holly had actually seemed relieved Gail was required elsewhere but that was because Gail hadn’t told her the substance of Elaine’s call. Why worry Holly needlessly, she reasoned, because surely Matt would see what Francine was trying to do. So she told Holly the interview was just procedure and Holly had smiled brightly and nodded and then headed for the shower. Gail had sat on the edge of the bed, worrying at her bottom lip until the sound of Holly turning off the taps forced her to move.

‘Was Dr Hart quiet or were you too drunk to notice her?’ Kramer asked. The judgment in her voice was impossible to miss, like she’d already made up her mind about Gail. Clearly one of the cops who fell into the all Pecks are corrupt camp.

Madeline Kramer was Matt’s boss. Gail didn’t know much about her except she had a reputation for being a hardass and was on the team responsible for putting Steve away. Kramer was rewarded for her work on that particular case with a promotion to detective sergeant. She had a pointy face, which reminded Gail of a ferret—feral rather than cute, and kind of apt given her job was all about ferreting around. 

Kramer had the complexion of a committed smoker. There was a certain greyness to it you’d normally associate with the very sick, but it was also mottled here and there with red blotches. Her teeth had yellowed too and Gail guessed the detective sergeant was younger than she looked. The smell of stale smoke that hung about her filled the cubicle and it made Gail feel slightly nauseous. She was thankful smoking was one habit she’d never taken up. Good thing too because Holly said she could never date a smoker. ‘I’ve seen too many smokers’ lungs,’ she said by way of explanation.

‘Well?’ Kramer asked when Gail didn’t respond. She tapped the table with her pen.

Gail became aware of the loud ticking of the clock on the wall, it’s sound magnified by the airless cubicle. She suddenly felt hot and couldn’t help running a finger along one side of her collar. ‘I wasn’t that drunk,’ she said quietly, pleased that she was maintaining her cool despite feeling so overheated. Then she noticed that Kramer had followed the movement of her finger as she loosened her collar. Great. If that didn’t make her look flustered nothing would.

‘But drunk enough that you needed to splash cold water on your face to sober up.’ 

Gail sighed. ‘It had been a long day. Yes I had a few drinks but I just wanted to freshen up before Dr Stewart and her parents arrived.’

‘Were you nervous about meeting your girlfriend’s parents? Is that why you drank a lot.’

Gail had to stop from rolling her eyes. Kramer was really beginning to irritate her. Last time Gail looked she was the victim but Kramer seemed to be delighting in treating her like a suspect. She sighed again. ‘I get along better with Holly’s parents than my own.’

‘That’s not saying much. Aren’t you estranged from your father and word is your relationship with your mother is strained at best.’

Gail swiveled her gaze to Matt. Had he told Kramer that? He looked back at her steadily. On the other hand, the way gossip spread around 15 it was hardly surprising Kramer knew.

‘I’m very close to Karl and Becca Stewart. I have no reason to be nervous around them.’

‘Hmm,’ Kramer said, and pursed her lips. She opened a file on the table in front of her and rifled through the pages until she found the one she wanted. She began to trace the words on the paper with her finger, her lips silently forming the words. Gail stared at Kramer intently until the detective sergeant finally finished reading and looked up. When she caught Gail’s expression, she half-smiled. If anything it made her look more like a ferret. ‘But you’d had a few,’ Kramer paused and raised an eyebrow, ‘shots.’

‘Yeah.’

‘So it’s quite possible you may have passed out and hit the basin as you fell.’

‘Is that what Francine Hart is saying?’ She looked over at Matt for help but he was staring down at the table. Clearly Kramer had decided to take the lead in the interview.

‘You of all people know we’re not at liberty to divulge that,’ Kramer said primly.

No one spoke for a moment. Gail wondered if her growing animosity towards the detective sergeant was obvious. She was trying to keep that in check too. Nothing would be achieved by giving Kramer a reason to dislike her anymore than she already did.

‘In the mirror I saw Francine Hart bring her hands down towards my head. Her intention was clear. If I hadn’t moved to the left, I may not be here talking to you right now.’

‘You suggesting Francine Hart wanted to kill you?’

‘I believe so,’ Gail said. ‘At the very least my injuries would have been considerably worse.’

‘Mmm,’ Kramer nodded slowly but rather than signifying agreement, the deliberateness of the action made it seem like she doubted Gail’s assertion. ‘So would Holly—‘

‘Dr Stewart,’ Gail corrected. It annoyed her that Kramer assumed this familiarity with Holly. No doubt it was calculated to do just that. Still, Gail decided it wouldn’t hurt to remind the detective sergeant that she was referring to the deputy chief of forensics.

‘Dr Stewart,’ Kramer paused. If Gail had hoped to score a point, it was lost in the patronising way Kramer spoke, drawing out ‘doctor’ so it became almost an insult. ‘Would you say she’s protective of you?’

Gail frowned. ‘I guess.’ Gail had a fair idea where this questioning was going and she didn’t like it. Being protective was part of who Holly was. She hated if anyone was hurt or mistreated, let alone the people she loved. But there was no way in hell Gail would share this part of Holly or their relationship with Kramer. She could predict the detective sergeant would twist it around to make it seem overbearing and dysfunctional rather than something Gail cherished. Holly’s solicitude towards her had been a revelation—before Holly the people Gail had dated regarded her as too much of an Ice Queen to be capable of hurt. 

‘Overly protective?’ Kramer cocked an eyebrow again.

Gail screwed up her face. ‘What are you getting at?’

‘Is Ho–Dr Stewart the jealous type?’

‘She’s friends with most of my exes—so you tell me detective.’ Gail deliberately left off the sergeant. It was one of Elaine’s tricks—getting names and titles wrong— that was calculated to impress upon people their inferiority. Gail paused and rocked back slightly in her chair. 

‘So that’s a no.’

‘Uh huh,’ Gail said. 

‘Would she attack someone if she thought they were attacking you.’

‘Thought. There’s no thought here. Francine did attack me. Dr Stewart saved my life.’

‘But you were unconscious. How do you know what Dr Stewart did?’

‘I saw the look on Francine Hart’s face. It was crazed. She was determined to harm me.’

‘So now you’re a psychiatrist,’ Kramer scoffed.

Gail clenched her hands so tightly she could feel her finger nails digging into the skin. Somehow, like a release valve, it allowed her to remain outwardly composed.

‘Okay Kramer. Cut the bullshit. Are you accusing me of lying?’

‘We’re just trying to get the facts straight,’ Kramer said, smirking a little as she said straight, ‘aren’t we Detective Kennedy.’

Matt shifted uncomfortably. ‘Um yeah,’ he mumbled.

‘That’s probably all we need for now,’ Kramer shut the folder in front of her with such force it made a slapping sound, enough to make Matt jump. Boy was he on edge, Gail thought. 

Ignoring Matt’s reaction, Kramer continued, her tone increasingly hectoring. ‘Detective Kennedy will escort you out. I don’t need to remind you that you are not to discuss this case with anyone who was present that night, including your girlfriend.’ Without waiting for a reply, Kramer stood abruptly and gathered the folder. She was probably desperate for a cigarette Gail thought.

Kramer turned when she reached the door. ‘How about you—how far would you go to protect Dr Stewart?’

Gail regarded her coolly. ‘I wouldn’t lie about this if that’s what you’re implying.’

Kramer gave a knowing smile.

‘You’re not taking this seriously? Gail asked once Kramer shut the door and Matt switched off the camera.

Matt shifted a little in his chair and looked down at the notes in front of him. When he looked up, he didn’t quite meet Gail’s eye.

‘Afraid we have to.’ It was said apologetically.

‘Because I’m a Peck. If Holly was dating anyone else this would be going nowhere.’

Matt rubbed his forehead. ‘It’s out of my hands.’

‘Should we be worried?’

Matt sighed and again looked down at the notes. He absentmindedly fiddled with the lid of his pen. Normally he was very still in interviews. Gail had sat next to him in enough of them to know. He was a broad guy and muscular but so contained that it was only when he stood that you noticed his bulk. When had he become so fidgety, Gail wondered, and then realised it was probably about the time she walked into the room.

‘Maybe,’ Matt said, bringing his head up and this time looking directly at Gail. ‘She’s got a good lawyer. The dog after a bone type. Arrogant too. I got the impression he’s used to winning.’

‘Yeah, I met him,’ Gail twisted her mouth in distaste.

‘Oh that’s right. When Francine withdrew her complaint against you.’

‘See, she’s a serial complainer. You must see that,’ Gail said, deciding Matt didn’t need to know that Elaine had once set her up on a blind date with said lawyer.

Matt blew out a breath. ‘Except her lawyer says she’s the victim of a campaign of sustained harassment and abuse orchestrated by you and Holly. Hart’s now claiming she only dropped the complaint in the hope you and Holly would stop targeting her—‘ Matt stopped and flipped through his notes, ‘and that Holly also assaulted her in the car park at 15 on the 10 January this year.‘

‘That’s bullshit and everyone at 15 knows that, including you Matt.’ Gail fought to control the anger building in her chest—white hot and magnified by a growing realisation of her powerlessness. How could all this evidence be so misconstrued? Every thing pointed to Francine. ‘Fiona Vincent witnessed it. She had to pull Francine away from Holly.’

‘Vincent didn’t see the whole confrontation. Shit, I should’t be showing you this but—‘

‘But what?’ Gail asked more harshly than she intended.

Matt dug out a folder from beneath his notes and extracted three photos. He slid them across the table for Gail to see. The first was of Francine from the neck up. You could make out the bruising around her neck, the angry red finger marks making it clear she’d been throttled. The other two were close-ups of the bruising. 

‘See the date and time code,’ Matt said.

Gail nodded. ‘10 January 2018. 7 pm. One hour after she threatened Holly in the car park. She claims Holly did this?’

Matt nodded. ‘Before Vincent got there.’

‘You know Holly isn’t responsible for this. They have to be self-inflicted.’

‘I guess it’s a possibility,’ Matt hedged.

‘You don’t think,’ Gail started, her cheeks flushing red and her eyes widening in consternation. ‘Matt, Holly’s not capable of this.’

Matt made a face as if he were pained. ‘We need to consider all the evidence—‘

‘Kramer thinks I’m covering for Holly doesn’t she?’ Gail interrupted.

Matt nodded.

‘And she hates Pecks.’

Matt nodded again.

‘We’re screwed,’ Gail blew out a breath.  
…………………………………………………………………………………….

As she came through the oversized revolving door and onto the sidewalk, Gail almost ran smack into Officer Officer. He jumped when he saw her. If it had been anyone else from 15 she would have laughed out loud. It was like he’d seen a ghost and the way his expression morphed might have been comical had he not brushed past her so aggressively—at first he was startled, then flustered, and finally for the briefest of moments he regarded Gail with open hostility. Then he put his head down and scurried into the building.

Weird, thought Gail, why hadn’t Officer even acknowledged her? The guy was a dick but she worked with him, was in fact his superior, and surely a little courtesy was in order. Was he just another cop who hated her because she was a Peck? Take a number, she felt like calling after him as the revolving door swallowed him up. 

She wondered what business Officer had in police headquarters. Was it too much to hope he was getting fired? Oh shit, he was probably there to talk to Kramer but what did he know about the case? He and Duncan had turned up at the house the night she and Holly discovered the photo Francine had doctored, but that was about it. Oh fuck, Gail slammed the palm of her hand against her forehead. The speeding ticket. Officer was there when Duncan pulled Holly over and then refused to write a ticket. Could Kramer use that against Holly or even her?   
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

Gail slammed into the detective pen and sat down heavily in her chair, swinging her boots up onto the edge of the desk. Her mood had not improved in the walk from the big building. If anything she had become more despondent. Holly was the one true constant in her life and no matter what shit came their way—and lets face it they’d be dealing with more than their share—the fact of Holly made these things surmountable. Gail realised she had an unshakable faith that Holly would always be there. Was it possible she was about to lose all of that? Worst-case scenario if Holly was convicted she could go to jail. At the very least she’d lose her job.

At the sound of Gail’s boots clunking on the desk, Frankie looked up from her computer screen and regarded Gail with one eyebrow raised and an expression of amusement. ‘So it went well, huh,’ she said sarcastically. They were the only two in the pen. Gail figured Dov and Chloe were still back at the building site.

‘Peachy,’ Gail scowled.

‘Wanna talk about it?’

‘You know we’re not supposed to, Anderson.’

‘And you know that’s bullshit, Peck.’ It was said in Frankie’s usual combatative way and yet Gail sensed that below that there lay a genuine offer of help. Before she could explore that further, Frankie’s phone pinged.

‘This will cheer you up,’ Frankie held up the phone to show a message from Holly. ‘Wanna come to an autopsy.’

‘Hell yeah,’ Gail started to get up and then sat back down again. An autopsy meant seeing Holly and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to tell Holly about the interview with Internal Affairs just yet, well not until she’d had a chance to figure out what they had on Holly. ‘I mean, maybe I should stay here and look though the case notes. You know see if there’s anything we’ve missed or that I missed while I was on medical leave.’

‘Nice try. We did that last night and I know Price has been regularly updating you on the sly,’ Frankie grinned, entirely too pleased with herself, at least in Gail’s opinion. How had Frankie figured out about Price? Did it mean she also knew they’d spoken to Kate Lewis and Giselle? 

‘So it looks like you’re coming with me to the morgue.’ Frankie used her boot to push the bottom of Gail’s chair so it rolled away from the desk a little.

‘Fuck Anderson, what are you five,’ Gail said grabbing onto the desk to steady herself, her scowl deepening but then she stood and followed Frankie out of the pen.

They didn’t speak again until they were in the car.

‘So that review last night—did it throw up anything new?’

Frankie shook her head.

‘Still think the ex-husband killed Melanie Fisher?’ Gail prodded.

‘I haven’t got any other suspects,’ Frankie said tersely. Still a sore point then, Gail thought. 

‘But it’s worth keeping an open mind,’ Gail pushed.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Frankie sighed. ‘But if this body turns out to be Mitchell Cormann, which I’m betting it will, then the ex-husband has to be in the frame.’

‘Because you’re more likely to be murdered by someone you know,’ Gail said.

‘And especially someone you’re related to,’ Frankie nodded in agreement.

‘So how about Len Cormann then?’

‘What’s the motive?’

‘Could be jealousy? Maybe Len had a thing for Melanie. Her father said he didn’t like the way Len looked at Melanie. You know, creepy.’

‘Doesn’t make him a murderer.’

‘But debt might.’

‘But if he killed Mitchell so he could get all the proceeds from the sale of the clubhouse land, where does Melanie fit in? She was killed eighteen months before.’

Gail bit her lip and took a deep breath. It was now or never. ‘Well, Melanie’s death could also be about debt. Price and I have a theory.’ She tried to sound cool but the words came out rushed and breathless, like she was afraid Frankie would shoot down this idea before she had a chance to explain. 

‘I bet you do,’ Frankie twisted her mouth. Gail waited a beat and then two. She was sure Frankie was about to totally lose it. Nothing annoyed her more on an investigation than a rogue detective. ‘Well,’ Frankie said, ‘are you going to share with the class?’

‘Okay,’ Gail said, surprised by Frankie’s mild reaction. ‘We know Cormann’s practically bankrupt despite the sale of the clubhouse.’

‘Yeah, yeah. Len’s a gambler. Owes money all over town. Banned from all the casinos. Dov discovered he’s mortgaged to the hilt. Even refinanced the loan on his condo.’

‘We also know Lee Chou runs the biggest illegal gambling set up in Toronto. Chances are Cormann owes him money. Kate Lewis—‘

‘The pin-up girl for anti-Sex Trafficking,’ Frankie interjected.

‘Kate put Chloe and me in contact with a girl who’s been trafficked. Giselle,’ Gail continued, ignoring Frankie’s comment. ‘She said Lee Chou is deep into sex trafficking. He’s even bringing in girls from China. Giselle met Melanie Fisher when she was writing the expose on sex slavery.’

‘And Giselle told her about Chou.’

Gail nodded.

‘But guns and drugs are Chou’s thing. Sex trafficking wouldn’t be worth the hassle’

‘You wanna bet? Most girls make upwards of $300,000 a year. Plus our Border Services Agency has been so successful in stopping drugs and gun coming into the country, it’s become easier to smuggle people.’

‘So you’re saying Chou offered Len the chance to wipe his debt in exchange for murdering Melanie.’

‘I think it’s worth looking into.’

Frankie didn’t say anything for a moment but tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. Gail knew better than to interrupt her. Frankie resented it if you tried to rush her, especially when she was mulling something over.

‘Why’d you wait til now to tell me,’ she said finally.

‘Jesus, Frankie every time I mentioned it you blocked it,’ Gail said.

‘Why would Chou trust Cormann to do the killing? He’s got plenty of goons who do it for him,’ Frankie mused, unfazed by Gail’s outburst.

‘I dunno,’ Gail threw up her hands irritably. She sensed that Frankie, having just come around to considering Len Cormann as the murder had quickly gone cold on the idea.

‘Geez Peck. I’m just saying. We don’t even know if Cormann owed Chou money.’

‘But it’s worth following up isn’t it?’ Gail tried not to sound too eager.

‘Yeah,’ Frankie conceded. ‘We don’t have much else to go on. But Price should have brought this up at the review last night. I don’t want either of you going behind my back again. We’re not going to get results if we don’t work as a team.’

‘Yeah,’ Gail nodded and looked out the window. She wasn’t certain Frankie had a right to be on her high horse given how blinkered she’d been about the case but she was the boss. After a moment Gail turned back to face Frankie. ‘And it’s good practice in an investigation to remain open minded.’ She was risking Frankie’s wrath, which was not a pretty or welcome thing, however Frankie just smiled wryly and said ‘touché Peck.’ It wasn’t the response Gail had expected. What had made Frankie so chill?

By the time they pulled into the car park outside the morgue, Gail’s mood had shifted. If Frankie had intended to distract her by puzzling over the case then it had worked. 

‘Ah detectives,’ Holly smiled widely as they entered the autopsy suite. Gail knew that grin. It meant Holly had found something significant and couldn’t wait to share. She was practically buzzing with excitement like one of those wind up toys. 

Holly and Dr Chatterjay had arranged the bones neatly on the table and Gail took a moment to survey them. Gone were the days when she’d take a backseat and wait until the pathologist had a result. On that first case they’d worked together, Gail wasn’t lying when she told Holly she saw nothing but bones, but somehow Holly’s enthusiasm for her work was infectious, and she was a good teacher, and before long Gail had begun to identify more than smelly bones.

‘Male,’ Gail said. It was a statement rather than a question.

‘Indeed and you could tell by?’ Dr Chatterjay raised an inquiring eyebrow. His manner was professorial, challenging but g encouraging and Gail imagined this was how he spoke to his students. She didn’t mind. The forensic anthropologist liked sharing his knowledge and Gail was willing to learn.

‘Pelvis,’ Gail said matter of factly

Dr Chatterjay nodded.

‘So is it—‘ Gail started but Holly broke in.

‘Mitchell Cormann. The dental records are a match.’

‘Wow.’

‘Any idea how he died?’ Frankie asked. She was always like this, always wanting to cut to the chase. In Gail’s experience not just Holly but most forensic pathologists liked to take their time to carefully unfold the story the body on their slab told them.

‘Well, this is where it gets interesting,’ Holly said. ‘See here.’ She pointed to the underside of the skull.

‘Please tell me an arrow was involved,’ Gail said.

Holly’s smile grew even wider. ‘It’s quite possible this type of skull fracture was caused by an arrow. Then again a small knife or even a sharp stone could do this type of damage.’

‘Enough to kill Mitchell?’ Frankie asked.

‘Yep, it was fatal’ Holly nodded. ‘He could possibly have survived if he’d received immediate attention.’

‘What was it that Dr Joseph Howland Bill wrote,’ Dr Chatterjay paused. He had a prodigious memory and could recall great slabs of medical texts. He had told Gail it made passing exams in med school easy. ‘Arrows inflict wounds “with a fatality greater than that produced by any other weapons— particularly when surgical assistance cannot be obtained”.’

‘Howland who,’ Frankie curled her lip. 

It looked like they were in for one of Chatterjay’s esoteric ramblings—was it a thing with all forensic nerds Gail mused—and Frankie certainly didn’t have the patience for a dissertation.

‘Dr Bill served in the Civil War,’ Dr Chatterjay explained, paying no heed to Frankie’s obvious disinterest. ‘He wrote what is still regarded as the definitive account of arrow wounds. It was published in the American Journal of Medical Sciences in 1862.’

‘Notes on Arrow Wounds,’ Holly said. ‘It’s still germane today. Dr Bill was ahead of his time.’

‘Based on his observations in the field, Dr Bill found that few arrows reached the brain itself but the real danger of a headshot comes from compression of the outer table of the skull. Without medical intervention, cerebral compression can lead to unconsciousness, slowed respirations, high blood pressure, fever, a rapid pulse and eventually death.’

‘So you’re saying this is how Mitchell Cormann died?’ Frankie asked.

‘Just that it’s a possibility,’ Dr Chatterjay said evenly ‘We have to keep an open mind at this stage.’ 

The last bit made Gail smile smugly and she chanced a look at Frankie who rolled her eyes. Whether at Gail or Dr Chatterjay’s nerd off it was hard to tell.

‘But given the corpse was found at the archery club chances are it was an arrow,’ Gail pushed.

‘We’re working to establish that. It may take some days.’ This time Holly’s smile was indulgent. She knew, of course, that an arrow fit very nicely with Gail’s theory that Len Cormann was a murderer. ‘Keep in mind that to penetrate the skull, it would have been shot at close range.’ 

‘And in this case from behind,’ Dr Chatterjay added.

‘Can we go and talk to Len now,’ Gail turned to Frankie. She wasn’t exactly demanding, though there was something of the petulant child about her.

‘I don’t know how you put up with her,’ Frankie looked across at Holly and sighed elaborately.

‘Well Detective Anderson, I don’t think I need to remind you that Gail’s instincts are usually good,’ Holly said amiably, if anything amused by Gail and Frankie’s antics.

‘Alright, alright,’ Frankie held up her hands. ‘The three of you don’t have to gang up on me. Coming Peck?’ she said as she turned on her heel.

Gail only realised Holly was right behind her when she reached the door. Frankie had stridden ahead and was already halfway down the corridor.

‘Everything alright?’ Gail asked when she noticed Holly chewing at the corner of her lip.

‘Just wondered how this morning went?’

‘Oh that,’ Gail waved her hand dismissively. Fuck. She definitely didn’t want to get into this with Holly now. 

‘So it was just routine,’ Holly asked hopefully. 

Now Gail couldn’t lie to Holly, who in any case always saw through her subterfuge, but it did seem as though Holly wanted to be reassured that there was nothing to worry about. It wasn’t that she was withholding anything from Holly—she just needed to time to get the bottom of this mess first. Although, if Gail’s suspicions were correct, and she had a horrible feeling they were, they had every reason to be apprehensive.

‘It was annoying,’ Gail shrugged. That wasn’t a lie. It’s just that the interview with Internal Affairs had been a lot more. ‘I’ll fill you in tonight.’

‘Did they give you a hard time?’ Holly’s brow crinkled with concern.

‘Oh you know because I’m police and they’re Internal Affairs they have to make sure they dot all the ‘t’s and cross the ‘i’s,’ Gail tried to sound breezy.

‘You mean cross the ‘t’s and dot the ‘i’s.’

‘Yeah that’s what I said, Holly.’

Holly shook her head and Gail realised that in her agitation she must have got it mixed up. She couldn’t help but bite her lip. Holly was sure to realise how flustered she really was. ‘Hey, I should go,’ Gail pointed ostentatiously in the direction of Frankie’s retreating figure. ‘You know Anderson hates to be kept waiting.’

Holly didn’t say anything but tilted her head to one side and regarded Gail. It was as though she were trying to read something in Gail’s face. 

‘We’ll talk about it tonight, okay,’ Holly said finally and Gail nodded. She quickly turned to go, relieved at being released from the conversation, but then turned back and kissed Holly softly on the lips.

‘You better get to work, nerd,’ she said with affected light-heartedness, ‘loitering in the corridor—you’re not exactly setting an example to your staff.’

Holly’s laugh was also forced and Gail cursed herself for being so transparent, at least when it came to Holly. When she reached the end of the corridor, Gail looked back over her shoulder to see Holly hadn’t moved from her position in the doorway. Gail smiled uncertainly and gave an awkward little wave. She couldn’t quite decipher Holly’s expression but if she’d had to describe it, Gail would have said disconcerted.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Frankie was already in the driver’s seat when Gail climbed into the car but she made no move to turn on the engine. Instead she tapped her thumb against the steering wheel again and looked straight ahead as if something of immense interest had caught her attention outside. All Gail could see was the brick wall of the morgue. Frankie didn’t really think they’d ganged up on her did she?

‘I’ve got a proposal, I mean a question to ask you,’ Frankie said abruptly, still staring straight ahead.

‘Uh, yeah,’ Gail said perplexed. Frankie seemed uncharacteristically nervous. Her usual swagger had deserted her and her words came out in a rush. Then Frankie was fumbling in the pocket of her jacket until she pulled out a red velvet ring case. She placed it with deliberate carefulness on the dashboard so it sat an equal distance between she and Gail.

‘Go on,’ she urged, ‘open it.’

‘I’m flattered Anderson, but you know I’m spoken for,’ Gail said dryly.

‘Geez Peck, I’m trying to be serious here. I need your help. How do you think I should propose to Alannah?’

‘Propose,’ Gail said unable to conceal her astonishment.

‘Yeah propose. Just because you and Holly are such commitment phobes doesn’t mean the rest of us have to be.’

‘Really. You’re talking to me about being a commitment phobe,’ Gail screwed up her face in disbelief. ‘What happened to love them and leave them Anderson?’

‘I grew up. So are you going to help me.’

‘What makes you think I know anything about proposing?’

‘You and Nick almost got married. One of you must have popped the question.’

‘Well if you want to be blind drunk and oh hey, thanks for bringing that up.’

‘Who asked who?’ Frankie pushed.

‘Really we’re doing this,’ Gail looked at her incredulously.

‘Doing what?’ 

‘Acting like forever besties. I think you’ve mistaken me for Price.’

‘’But you are—‘ Frankie started and then stopped abruptly, her face suddenly tightly closed off and so sour it was like she had eaten something unbearably tart.

Shit, Gail thought, when did Frankie get so sensitive? If Holly were here she’d point out that Frankie was kind of Gail’s best friend. Gail still found that a strange concept, and not simply because it involved Frankie but because until fairly recently she hadn’t really entertained the idea of close friends. She sighed. And if Holly were here she’d tell Gail she needed to make more of an effort. And if Gail were honest, increasingly she had been confiding in Frankie and she probably owed her. The wonder of it was that Frankie seemed better at acknowledging their friendship. 

‘Alright, alright,’ Gail conceded. ‘We were on a bender and I think it seemed like a good idea at the time—mainly because it would piss off my mother. But to be honest, I can’t remember whose idea it was.’

‘Not a whole lot of help,’ Frankie said sullenly.

‘You asked Anderson. Anyway don’t you think you’re being precipitous? You and Alannah only just back together.’

‘You think I’m being rash?’

‘Yeah,’ Gail drew out the word. ‘That is what precipitous means.’

‘Alannah is worried I won’t commit. What better way to show I’m in it for the long haul.’

‘Hmm,’ Gail said, ‘definitely don’t say that when you pop the question.’

‘So you think I should?’

‘Geez Frankie, don’t ask me. I’m no relationship expert but maybe you should give yourselves a bit more time. Get used to being back together. Iron out whatever it is you need to,’ Gail paused while she searched for the right word, ‘iron, I guess.’

‘Maybe,’ Frankie said, not sounding in the least convinced. She put the key in the ignition and started the car. ‘So ready to talk to Len?’

Gail nodded. Anything was preferable to this discussion. It wasn’t even lunchtime and so far today she’d found herself in three conversations she didn’t want to have and felt ill equipped to handle.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

A squad car was parked outside Len Cormann’s jewellery store. Odd, Gail thought, until she noticed all the front windows had been smashed in and shards of glass littered the sidewalk. Anna Robinson was putting up crime scene tape, which it transpired was to stop pedestrians walking through the glass rather than because the scene needed to be secured. 

‘What’s the deal, Robinson?’ Frankie asked.

‘The store was bricked.’

‘Anyone hurt?’ Gail asked.

‘Luckily not. No one was in the shop apart from the shop assistant, Felicity Warren. We haven’t had much of a chance to talk to her. She’s sitting out back with Chris but she’s a bit shaken.’

Frankie nodded. ‘Is the owner, Len Cormann, around?’

Anna shook her head. ‘No sign of him.’

Gail stuck her head into the shop. All the display cabinets were intact. None of the jewellery appeared to be missing.

‘Not a robbery then,’ she said, sticking her head back outside.

‘Nope. Nothing missing. It appears to be an act of pure vandalism. Felicity said they didn’t even come into the shop.’

Felicity Warren looked up with a tear-streaked face. Gail recognised her as the assistant who had complimented on her hands and asked if she’d considered hand modelling.

‘Oh god I’m a mess, detectives,’ she apologised, clearly recognising Gail and Frankie. She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief that had clearly been supplied by Chris and was now streaked with her black mascara.

‘It’s totally understandable,’ Gail said gently. ‘It would have been a shock.’

Felicity nodded. 

‘Have you contacted Mr Cormann to let him know?’ Frankie asked.

Felicity shook her head miserably. ‘He hasn’t been in for the last two days and he wont return my calls. He had to let go of Cheyne, the other assistant. I think he’s going under.’ She tried to repress a sob but it came out as a weird sort of hiccup.

‘You mean financially?’

‘Yeah,’ Felicity nodded again. ‘When Len didn’t turn up yesterday I took a look through his desk. He’s behind with all the bills. He owes the landlord, his supplies, and the bank. God even the dry cleaner is after him. He’s even taken commissions for jewellery he’s never made. I think he’s done a runner.’

‘Do you think the smashed windows might have something to do with Mr Cormann’s debts,’ Gail asked.

‘I guess,’ Felicity said. ‘It makes sense.’

‘Did you get a look at people who did it?’

‘I was out front cleaning the cabinets like I do every morning when it happened. I had my back to the windows so the first I knew of it was the sound of breaking glass and it was so loud and it horrible.’ Felicity’s voice took on an edge of hysteria and she shut her eyes tight and blindly reached for Chris’ hand. Chris, for his part, looked somewhat abashed, and then patted her hand in what he must have thought was a consoling way but was just clumsy and awkward. Felicity opened her eyes and looked at Chris coyly. 

Okay, Gail was quite prepared to cut the woman some slack. No question the events of this morning were traumatic but the way she was gazing at Chris was pure badge bunny.

‘So you didn’t see them?’ Gail’s voice was less gentle now.

‘They had hoods on,’ Felicity said, looking at Gail sharply.

Yep, thought Gail, you’re milking this for everything it’s worth.

‘But they looked like two guys who came in to see Len about two weeks ago. Thugs,’ Felicity added, shivering then and gripping tightly onto Chris’ hand.

‘Can you describe them. Did you get names?’ Frankie asked.

‘I was on my way out as they came in. Len was about to lock up for the night. One looked Chinese. The other was Caucasian. Told them we were closed but Len said it was alright and I didn’t think about it again until now.’

‘We may need you to work with a sketch artist. See if we can get a facial composite. Would you be willing to do that?’ Frankie asked.

‘Sure. Is it normal for the police to go to so much trouble over a bunch of vandals.’

‘Protect and serve that’s our motto,’ Gail said, mostly to shut the woman up but she saw both Chris and Frankie smirk.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

‘So Len’s done a disappearing act,’ Frankie said once they were back in the car.

‘Yep. Someone’s obviously coming after him.’

‘Like Chou you mean?’ Frankie said. By now they’d pulled into the station lot.

‘Yep.’

‘We’re going to have to look into it,’ Frankie said, ‘but whether we can find any one willing to talk. She trailed off and threw out her hands in a gesture of helplessness.

‘Traci might have a contact,’ Gail said hopefully, happier now that Frankie was willing to consider the Chou angle. ‘I’ll sound her out.’

‘Yeah, she might know the best way to approach this,’ Frankie nodded.

To Gail’s surprise Oliver was waiting for them as they came through the sally port.

‘Ah Peckling,’ he said, and the way he spoke, soothingly and yet apologetically made Gail think he had bad news. ‘Your mother—ah the Superintendent is here to see you.’

‘On official business?’ Gail asked.

‘She wouldn’t say,’ Oliver made a rueful face. ‘She’s waiting in the detective pen.’

Gail nodded. 

Elaine hadn’t taken a seat but was leaning stiffly against Gail’s desk. Dov and Chloe were doing their best to look busy but every now and again they shot a quick glance in Elaine’s direction and then just as quickly put their heads back down. True to form her mother was inspiring fear and loathing where ever she went.

‘Ah at last,’ Elaine said when she caught sight of Gail. She spoke like Gail had been out for a long lunch rather than on a case. Speaking of lunch, Gail realised she hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was getting on into the afternoon. As if on call, her stomach rumbled loudly. Elaine’s mouth twitched at the corners in disapproval. ‘A private word, detective’, she said and turned on her heel. Gail supposed she was meant to follow. One of these days she’d just stay put and see what her mother did then. With a heavy sigh she trailed after Elaine into an empty interrogation room.

‘Well,’ Elaine said.

‘Well what?’ Gail replied, feeling like she’d been reduced to a sulky teenager. How did her mother do that?

‘How did the interview go this morning?’

‘Peachy but you’re in Internal Affairs, surely you’ve seen the transcripts by now.’

Elaine shook her head impatiently. ‘I’ve been told to take, ah, a back seat.’

‘When has that stopped you,’ Gail scoffed, not quite sure why she was so angry with her mother. It wasn’t her fault that Kramer seemed to be gunning for Gail and Holly.

‘It was an official warning. Kramer made a complaint.’ Elaine stated tersely.

‘Oh,’ Gail said, and then with more emphasis as the significance of Elaine’s admission dawned on her. ‘Oh. I see. She doesn’t like Pecks.’

‘No,’ Elaine agreed. ‘Plus I passed her over for a promotion so that’s compounded the issue.’

‘I think she believes Francine’s version of events—that I slipped and fell and Holly hit her for no reason,’ Gail blurted out. She felt such relief at finally sharing this with someone (even if it was her mother), to say the words out loud rather than mulling them over endlessly in her head. She had kept it from Holly and had felt too overwhelmed to discuss it with Frankie, who probably would have dismissed her fears as paranoia anyway.

‘That’s definitely Francine’s version of events?’

Gail nodded. ‘Kramer wouldn’t confirm it of course but it looks like it. Well, hers or her lawyer’s.’

‘That slimy weasel,’ Elaine said. In a different situation Gail might have pulled her up on that. After all Elaine had thought the slimy weasel suitable enough to set Gail up with on a blind date. Sometimes Gail wondered whether her mother had dispatched her on dates with reprehensible men so she would finally face up to the fact that she was gay. Elaine had certainly expressed no surprise when Gail came out.

‘Francine’s alleging Holly and I have conducted a campaign of harassment against her. Holly could lose her job over this, mom,’ Gail said.

‘Don’t worry. I’m going to take care of this,’ Elaine said briskly and was out the door before Gail could ask exactly how.

……………………………………………………………………

When Gail returned to her desk a sandwich was sitting in the middle of it—and not just any sandwich but one of her favourites from a deli just across the road from 15. It had slow-roasted turkey with bacon and caramelised onion, sweet corn mayo, red onion jam and house-made dill pickles on a bread roll that was crusty and soft all at once and which you just couldn’t wait to sink your teeth into.

‘I figured you’d be hungry,’ Chloe said. Gail actually found herself smiling. It was quite possibly the nicest thing that had happened today. She was grateful that no one asked what Elaine wanted. As she took a bite of the sandwich Gail realised Chloe, Dov and even Frankie were looking at her intently.

‘Do you losers have such empty lives you have to watch me eat,‘ Gail said even though she still had a mouthful of sandwich.

‘It’s not that,’ Dov started. He was looking particularly smug and Gail couldn’t understand why.

What,’ Gail interrupted, ‘have I got sauce on my chin or something.’

‘Not yet,’ Dov said, ‘although maybe in the corner of your mouth there.’ He pointed to his own mouth to demonstrate. Gail screwed up her face. 

‘Dov,’ Chloe said, hitting him in the arm, ‘tell her what you’ve found.’

‘Yeah Dov, tell me what you’ve found,’ Gail parroted.

‘I went through the hospital computer records for Malcolm Turner, the patient Gemma Lister supposedly killed.’

‘And,’ Gail motioned for Dov to keep going with the hand that was not holding the sandwich. She noted that he had used the word supposedly killed not killed.

‘You’re going to like this,’ Frankie said.

‘Gemma Lister didn’t overlook that Mr Turner was allergic to penicillin. When she administered the penicillin, the warning had been removed from the record. As far as Gemma knew she was doing nothing wrong.’ 

‘Francine removed it.’

‘Yep,’ Dov nodded, ‘we’ve got the time and date that she logged in to alter the record.’

‘And you found this out by recovering data that had been erased?’

Dov nodded again. ‘Chloe and I have been at the hospital all morning chasing this up.’

‘You know what this means,’ Frankie was grinning.

‘Francine set Gemma Lister up so she could manipulate her into setting fire to the house.’ 

‘Yep.’

‘Wow, now that’s two great things that have happened today.’

‘What was the first?’ Chloe asked.

‘The sandwich of course,’ Gail beamed, her mood lightening for the first time that day.

After that Frankie and Gail decided to go in search of Len Cormann. Dov and Chloe had arranged to meet Matt Kennedy to give him the new information about Francine.

‘Don’t talk to Kramer,’ Gail advised.

‘Why,’ Dov asked, ‘was she immune to the Gail Peck charm?’

‘If she could, she’d arrest me for being a Peck.’

‘Oh,’ Chloe said in understanding, ‘well, with this new information surely Francine will be charged with murder.’

Yeah, if the world was a place where everything was fair, and if whatever forces out there hadn’t decided to conspire against she and Holly living an ordinary, trouble-free life, Gail thought glumly, the buoyancy of a moment ago overtaken by the reality that despite their best efforts justice did not always prevail. The idea of growing flowers was becoming increasingly attractive. Then again the plants would probably get some sort of catastrophic blight or aphids or whatever it was that killed off flowers. It wasn’t a subject she knew much about. Policing was it really. Born and bred to be in blue.

Cormann wasn’t at his apartment. The building super said he hadn’t seen him in days. 

‘Doesn’t mean anything though,’ the super shrugged. He looked to be in his early sixties with rounded shoulders and a potbelly. The kind of guy who spent more time watching the very large TV crammed into a corner of his office than actually doing his job. ‘People come and go at all hours. I don’t keep track of everybody. Though I was looking out for Len.’

‘Why?’ Frankie asked.

‘He’s seven months behind with the condo fees.’

‘Is that unusual for Len?’ Gail asked.

‘He’s lived here ten years and its happened a couple of times before. Len usually always pays up eventually. In the meantime he goes out of his way to avoid me.’

‘Did he give a reason for why the fees were late?’ Frankie asked.

The super shrugged again. ‘If I was a betting man—which I’m not—I’d say Len’s the betting man.’ He grinned, clearly pleased with his pun, if that’s what you could call it.

‘A gambler?’ Frankie pushed.

‘Yep,’ the super nodded. ‘A couple of times some pretty heavy dudes came round looking for him. I got the feeling he owed them money.’

‘Same guys?’

‘I think so,’ the super said. 

‘Did you get any names?’ Frankie asked.

‘These guys weren’t the kind for introductions if you get my drift.’

‘So can you describe them?’

‘Oriental,’ the super said.

‘You mean Asian?’ Gail quirked an eyebrow in annoyance. ‘Asia’s a big place. Do you think you can narrow it down.’

‘They weren’t fresh off the boat if that’s what you mean,’ the super said belligerently.

‘No it wasn’t what I meant,’ Gail sighed heavily, thinking she might just punch the guy if he said all Asians looked the same. ‘For example, were they Chinese, Pakistani, Indian, Malaysian, Thai, Korean, Cambodian, Laotian, Indonesian, Filipino?’ she said with exaggerated patience.

‘If I had to guess, I’d say they were Chinese.’

‘But you’re not certain.’

‘Yeah, yeah Chinks. Definitely.’ The super said. He was being deliberately obnoxious. Gail was sure of that. A guy who wore his prejudices with pride.

‘You mean they were Chinese Canadian.’

‘That’s what I said,’ the super crossed his arms.

Gail sighed again and rolled her eyes. They couldn’t afford to put a witness off side but boy did she feel like giving this bigot a piece of her mind.

‘Have you seen these guys here recently?’ Frankie asked, through gritted teeth. Clearly Gail wasn’t alone in finding the super’s bigotry offensive.

‘Maybe two weeks ago. I made a joke. I told them if they were after Len for money he owed me first.’

‘Yeah, how did they respond?’ Gail asked.

‘One of them said keep dreaming grandpa.’

The super reluctantly agreed to let Frankie and Gail into Len’s apartment. He fussed about the fact they didn’t have a warrant, which Gail suspected was payback for calling him on his racism but in the end his curiosity got the better of him, especially after Frankie said they were concerned Len might be the victim of foul play. ‘You don’t want a rotting corpse to go undiscovered in the apartment for weeks,’ she added for good measure. 

If they had hoped Len’s apartment would yield any clues as to his whereabouts or even his body, Frankie and Gail where sorely disappointed. Like Len’s desk at work, the dining table was strewn with unpaid bill reminders, including a letter from the bank saying they had initiated foreclosure proceedings. 

Apart from the dining table, everything was neat and orderly. Nothing appeared to be missing from the cupboards or drawers, and there was no evidence Len had hastily packed a bag. Gail noted a well-used archery kit tucked away in the corner of the walk-in robe. A breakfast bowl and coffee cup was stacked in the dishwasher. The refrigerator was fairly well stocked with food, including a carton of milk that expired in two days. Whenever Len had last left home, it seemed he had every intention of returning.

On the way back to the station, Frankie swung by the building site to show Gail where Mitchell Cormann’s body had been found. It was nearly 5 pm by the time they pulled into the small lot behind the old archery clubhouse and the light had an indistinct and gloomy quality. With the discovery of a second body, building activity had been shut down indefinitely and the abandoned heavy earth moving machinery looked ghostly in the gathering twilight. Gail found herself shivering involuntarily.

‘It is kinda spooky,’ Frankie said. 

‘Who’d want to buy an apartment here now,’ Gail wondered. Already the media was taking a prurient interest in the case. No doubt Viacom was in damage control but you’d have to bet the notoriety would put a big dent in the asking price of The Archer apartments, if they ever got built.

Mitchell had been buried about 20 metres away from where Melanie had been found and Gail could make out the yellow police tape that marked out the site of his grave. As they got closer, she made out a figure standing outside the tape. He appeared to be taking photos.

‘Stop police,’ Frankie yelled, pulling out her gun.

The figure turned and Gail realised it was Costa Dukas, the construction worker who had taken an usual amount of interest in the discovery of Melanie’s body and was full of helpful suggestions as to how they might identify who she was. 

‘Don’t shoot,’ he almost shrieked, clearly taken by surprise. He held up his hands so the camera, which was strung around his neck, thumped against his narrow chest.

‘What are you doing here,’ Frankie demanded as they drew level with Costa. His face was ashen and he was still holding his hands above his head even though she’d holstered her gun. 

‘I left my backpack in the clubhouse and came to get it,’ he stuttered, jerking his head to indicate the bag strapped on his back.

‘Yeah and then you happened to take a detour past here,’ Gail drawled.

‘Um, it’s a short cut home.’

‘So why were you taking photos?’ Gail asked.

‘I wasn’t,’ Costa started but Frankie cut in.

‘Nice try. Hand it over Dukas.’ When he didn’t move, Frankie said ‘you know you can put your hands down now.’

‘Uh yeah,’ Costa stuttered and grudgingly gave Frankie the camera. Strange, thought Gail, he’d been almost cocky the day they’d found Melanie Fisher

‘Want to give us a reason we shouldn’t take you down to the station and question you about this?’ Frankie asked.

Costa looked at his feet and twisted his mouth. He might have been in his mid thirties but right now he resembled an awkward adolescent. ‘You’re not going to believe this,’ he said.

‘Try us,’ Frankie said, her face hard.

‘Um, My father teaches forensics. He’s a professor. He taught that forensic pathologist who was here earlier. Holly Stewart. He told me she was one of his brightest students.’

‘Okay, if that’s the case why didn’t you introduce yourself to Dr Stewart,’ Gail asked.

‘That first day when the first body was found, I didn’t know until I spoke to my dad later,’ Costa shrugged. ‘And when Dr Stewart showed this morning, I didn’t think it was my place. I’m just a construction worker.’

‘This is sounding kinda stalkery.’

‘Oh no. That’s not me. I’ve just got an interest in forensics. I’ve picked up things from my dad. I would have studied it but I dropped out of school. I guess having two bodies turn up on the building site seemed like too good an opportunity to miss if you know what I mean.’

‘That’s a bit ghoulish,’ Frankie said.

‘I mean a chance to apply my knowledge.’

‘Yeah, so why the photos?’ Gail asked.

‘I was going to show my dad. You know discuss the case. He’s visiting from BC next week.’

‘Wait, I thought you said you grew up in this neighbourhood and that your parents still lived here, not BC?’

‘I did mainly. My parents divorced when I was ten and Dad got a job at the university in BC. My siblings and me spent holidays with Dad and his new wife but we went too school here. My mom   
re-partnered too.’

‘You know we’re going to have check all of this,’ Frankie said. ‘And Costa you don’t discuss this case with anyone. Even your father. This is an active investigation and I don’t want it compromised.’

Costa nodded sheepishly. ‘When do I get my camera back?’

‘When we’re done with it,’ Frankie said tartly.

Once they were back in the car, Frankie turned to Gail. ‘Do you believe him?’

‘I guess it’s possible. Holly said she heard Costa was a troubled kid. Maybe now he’s just trying to impress his dad.’ She turned on the camera and started scrolling through the photos. There were eight in total and all of them of the excavated site. Not that the images told you much. They were too dark for starters. She wondered what Professor Dukas would have made of them. ‘Costa was telling the truth about the photos at least.’

‘He’s got a weird vibe.’

‘There is definitely something unusual about him,’ Gail agreed, ‘but my guess is he’s on the autism spectrum. You know super smart but can’t cope in the traditional learning environment so drops out of school. Socially awkward. Becomes fixated on this case without realising how inappropriate it makes him look.’

‘Makes sense,’ Frankie agreed, ‘we still have to verify his story.’

Before Gail could reply her phone buzzed. She didn’t recognise the number. ‘Peck,’ she said tersely.

‘Ah Gail. Detective Sergeant Kramer. I wonder if you could clear something up for me.’

‘Yes,’ Gail said, sounding anything but willing to help.

 

‘Did you put pressure on a fellow officer not to book Holly—oh sorry, Dr Stewart for speeding.’

‘No,’ Gail sighed. ‘Do your homework Kramer. Holly practically begged Duncan Moore to give her a ticket. It’s on the body cam. You can check. She paid the fine the very next day.’

‘So why would Moore do that. Would he have felt pressured in any way?’

‘He’s a nice guy. Sometimes he gets his wires crossed. He probably thought he was doing the right thing letting Holly off with a warning. He was under the impression she was on the way to a crime scene.’

‘Hmm. Would you say your co-workers find you intimidating, Gail?’

‘What?’ Gail spluttered. ‘Kramer if you want to have this conversation bring me back in for an interview. I want all our conversations on the record.’

‘I may well do that,’ Kramer said and disconnected.

Gail groaned.

‘Trouble?’ Frankie asked. ‘You never told me about the interview.’

Before Gail could reply her phone buzzed again. Elaine. She decided to ignore it. She didn’t think she could cope with her mother so soon after speaking with Kramer. Almost immediately the sound of Frankie’s phone ringing reverberated through the car speakers and the name ‘Superintendent Peck’ flashed up on the console screen.

‘Fuck, you better answer it,’ Gail groaned again.

‘Superintendent,’ Frankie said evenly.

‘Is Gail with you?’ Elaine asked without bothering to greet Frankie.

‘Yeah.’

‘I’ve got bad news. Francine’s lawyer has managed to convince a judge to release her on bail.’

‘But I thought she was having a psych evaluation?’ Gail said, doing her best not to sound alarmed.

‘She got the all clear,’ Elaine said tightly. ‘Where is Holly?’

‘Um, probably at the morgue or on her way home.’

‘Best you go be with her, Gail. Detective Anderson, I’m counting on you to stay with Gail and Holly.’

‘Sure,’ Frankie started to say but Gail interrupted.

‘Frankie can’t guard us indefinitely,’ she objected. Gail could practically hear her mother purse her lips in annoyance.

‘Just until this sorted out. I want an officer with you and Holly at all times.’ Then Elaine rang off.

‘Fuck, fuck, fuck,’ Gail said.

‘We better go find Holly,’ Frankie said, diplomatically ignoring Gail’s outburst.

…………………………………………………………………………….

Holly was still at the morgue. She seemed delighted when Gail phoned to say she was coming to collect her. Gail decided it was best not to tell Holly why until she saw her. ‘I’m in the second lab,’ Holly told Gail, ‘I’m just about finished up.’

Gail didn’t say anything during the 20-minute ride to the morgue. She felt like the tension had rolled off her and filled the cabin of the car so it was almost suffocating. Like a big mass of jelly that just continued to solidify. There seemed no end to this nightmare. She was grateful Frankie didn’t try and reassure her that everything was going to be okay. 

‘You are so going to thank me,’ Holly crowed as Gail and Frankie strode through the door. She was practically levitating.

‘Yeah,’ Gail said cautiously.

‘We’ve been going though the soil samples we took form around Mitchell’s body and guess what I found?’

‘An arrow,’ Gail said, not meaning to be sarcastic but that’s the way it came out. She blamed it on Francine and the tension blob.

Holly looked at her quizzically but continued. ‘Good as. It’s a nock.’ She held up a clear evidence bag. Inside was a small piece of plastic that Gail recognised as belonging to an arrow. 

‘A nock?’ Frankie asked.

‘It’s the slotted plastic tip located on the rear end of the arrow. It snaps onto the string and holds the arrow in position,’ Holly explained.

‘And you know this how?’ Gail asked, so caught up in the fact that Holly was on to something that she forgot her anxiety. ‘Were you an archer in another life? Hey, maybe you were some badass female warrior like Boudicca.’

‘I googled it, Gail’ Holly shook her head in amusement. ‘Anyway I think Boudicca used a spear.’

‘Oh right,’ Gail said, not for the first time wondering at the breadth of Holly’s knowledge. ‘But the nock was recovered from an archery club. It could have come from any arrow and not necessarily the one that killed Mitchell.’

‘If he was killed by an arrow,’ Frankie reminded Gail.

‘Juries still out on that,’ Holly nodded, ‘however this nock was found in the soil sample that was taken directly from beneath Mitchell’s skull. Chances are it had something to do with his death.’

Any way we can trace the type of arrow it came from?’ Frankie said.

‘We’re working on that,’ Holly smiled, ‘but it should be possible.’ She pulled off her gloves. ‘I guess it’s time to head home. Nice to have a police escort.’ She looked from Gail to Frankie. ‘Want to explain why.’

……………………………………………………………………………………..

‘I knew you were holding out on me this morning,’ Holly said to Gail.

It was much later and they were in their room. They had eaten dinner with Frankie and Alannah, during which the main topic of conversation was of course Francine’s release. When Gail got up to clear the dishes, Alannah had shooed her away. ‘You guys need a break after a day like today,’ she said and Gail managed a weak but grateful smile. Frankie put on a movie—some lightweight comedy—but it didn’t hold Gail's attention. When she saw Holly was equally distracted, she suggested an early night. For once Frankie didn’t make a wise crack. 

Holly was already in bed and watched as Gail stripped off. 

‘Are you ogling me,’ Gail teased. She was deflecting and she knew it. How to tell Holly that Madeline Kramer might be about to destroy Holly’s career and probably Gail’s too if she could manage that.

‘Maybe,’ Holly replied.

Gail arched an eyebrow.

‘Okay, a little.’

The eyebrow shot up again.

‘Okay totally,’ Holly confessed and they both laughed. Holly winced though when Gail unclipped her gun and put it on the nightstand. 

‘Sorry,’ Gail said quietly, all levity forgotten. ‘And sorry about this morning—I didn’t want to worry you. I wanted to—.’ Before Gail could finish there was an urgent tapping on the door.

‘Is it okay to come in,’ Frankie said, sounding breathless like she’d run up the stairs.

‘Sure,’ Gail said, quickly pulling on a t-shirt as Frankie opened the door. She was gripping her phone and Gail couldn’t work out her expression, mostly because she’d never seen Frankie look like this before. 

‘Francine Hart was hit by a bus downtown two hours ago,’ she said without preamble.

‘What,’ Holly said.

‘Is she okay?’ Gail asked.

‘She’s dead.’

Now Gail understood that Frankie’s expression was in fact a mixture of shock and disbelief because her own mirrored it.


End file.
